Drawn from the extensive archive of the Casa Azul (Blue House), renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s former home and now a museum dedicated to this much loved artist’s life and work, Bendigo Art Gallery presents Frida Kahlo, her photos, currently on display until 10 February 2019.
Kahlo had a special relationship with photography, and meticulously accumulated a vast collection of photographs over the course of her life. First revealed to the public in 2007, the Casa Azul photographic archive was inaccessible for five decades and consists of more than 6500 images, of which some 257 are shown in this exhibition curated by Mexican photographer and historian Pablo Ortiz Monasterio.
Kahlo’s interest in photography began in childhood – both her father, Guillermo Kahlo and her maternal grandmother were professional photographers. Throughout her life she collected historic daguerreotypes and calling cards from the 19th century, often used as reference material for her work, as well as an extensive collection of personal photographs, often intervening on them with paint, written words or lipstick kisses.
The photos capture the interests and obsessions she grappled with throughout her life: her family, her fascination for Diego Rivera and other loves, her friends and enemies, political struggles and art, the pre-Columbian past and her great love for Mexico and its traditions.
The exhibition also includes several photographs from Kahlo’s long hospital stay and recovery following the 1925 accident that left her crippled and in considerable pain. The exhibition also reveals several the photographs of contemporaries including Man Ray, Martin Munkacsi, Fritz Henle, Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, Pierre Verger, and Lola and Manuel Alvarez.
Frida Kahlo, her photos
Bendigo Art Gallery, 42 View Street, Bendigo
Exhibition: 8 December 2018 – 10 February 2019
Free entry
For more information, visit: www.bendigoartgallery.com.au for details.
Image: Guillermo Kahlo, Frida Kahlo, 1932 – courtesy of the Frida Kahlo Museum