Frida Kahlo Was a Painter, a Brand Builder, a Survivor. And So Much More

February 5, 2019 6:36 PM

The artist and pop culture icon meticulously built her own image. A sweeping survey at the Brooklyn Museum examines how she did it, and why. By Rebecca Kleinman, NYT
posted by bq (7 comments total)

Thank you for this! She has been one of my favorite artists since I was a little kid, my mother had a lot of books about her. When I first heard about the exhibit, I priced out what it would cost for me to fly to NYC with her just to see this, but it's unfortunately not going to work out.
posted by skycrashesdown at 8:01 PM on February 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Kahlo was a Marxist and member of the Mexican Communist Party - I suspect she'd find "brand builder" a repugnant label.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:22 AM on February 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

I sometimes am told I physically resemble Frida Kahlo, because of my eyebrows and facial structure. She’s among my favorite artists.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 7:27 AM on February 6, 2019

I saw the Salma Hayek movie, but I feel I learned a lot more about her from Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna.
(Assuming that was reasonably accurate. It certainly provided a more complex portrait.)
posted by MtDewd at 9:06 AM on February 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

I went to the predecessor to this exhibition at the V&A in London last year. The room at the end with her clothes in was incredible, and I enjoyed the whole exhibition.

The sad thing was that there were not a lot of her actual paintings included, and the entire room given over to the surgical devices - splints, crutches, braces etc. she had to use, felt slightly macabre. I know she painted a lot of her braces herself, and so they were part of her art, and that her suffering was part of who she was. But I would've happily seen at least some of that space given over to some of her paintings instead of case after case of medical appliances.

And whoever does the buying for the gift shop at the V&A - phewee. Mexican chilli sauce, plastic cactuses - I'm only amazed they didn't have a comedy sombrero included in their "Order all the Mexican stuff you can find" inventory.

But that notwithstanding, I love Frida and the exhibition made me happy!
posted by penguin pie at 1:23 PM on February 6, 2019

Kahlo was a Marxist and member of the Mexican Communist Party - I suspect she'd find "brand builder" a repugnant label.

Doesn't make the label not true. Not the first Marxist to cultivate a 'brand' (see: cult of personality).
posted by kjs3 at 8:03 PM on February 6, 2019

, but I feel I learned a lot more about her from Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna.
(Assuming that was reasonably accurate. It certainly provided a more complex portrait.)
posted by MtDewd at 11:06 AM on February 6

My favorite Kingsolver book, so beautifully written, probably I've read it five times. I assume that Kingsolver isn't going to put her name on anything unless it's as accurate as she can possibly make it -- I surely do trust Kingsolver. I knew almost nothing of Kahlo prior to that book; under Kingsolver's pen Kahlo come alive in my hands.
posted by dancestoblue at 8:47 AM on February 7, 2019 [1 favorite]