Kahlo exhibition presents rare insight into life of Mexican icon

THE Bendigo Art Gallery’s latest blockbuster exhibition (and the last before it closes for a multimillion dollar upgrade), featuring one of Mexico’s most renowned artists, feminist icon Frida Kahlo, has opened to great fanfare.

More than a collection of her artworks, it features Kahlo’s belongings, clothing, make-up, accessories and medical items, on loan from the Museo Frida Kahlo (aka La Casa Azul, her much-loved former home in Mexico City) for the first time in Australia.

Gallery director Jessica Bridgfoot tells the story of how Frida Kahlo: In her own image brings together a “treasure trove” of items from La Casa Azul (the Blue House).

“Following Frida’s passing in 1954, many of her personal objects were sealed in a bathroom at the instructions of (husband and fellow artist) Diego Rivera,” she said.

“Her vibrant fashion collection, her medical prosthetics, her makeup, as well as her drawings, photographs and letters were discovered in this bathroom some 50 years later, perfectly intact and surviving the passage of time.

“These objects rarely leave Mexico, for they’re considered to be national treasures, and it is an incredible moment for us in Bendigo to be able to bring these cultural items here.”

Ms Bridgfoot also highlighted the inclusion of two important paintings in the exhibition.

“The first is called Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird from 1940, which is considered to be one of Kahlo’s best works, created at the height of her artistic maturity,” she said.

“What’s been so special about securing this painting, which has never been seen in Australia, is that there are objects from La Casa Azul displayed inside (it), and they’re reunited with others for the first time in many years, so that’s a special moment.

“The second one is called Still Life with Parrot and Fruit (1951), and together the paintings and the collection from the Museo Frida Kahlo present a picture of one of the most mythologised artists and radical cultural figures of the 20th Century.”

Frida Kahlo: In her own image is open until Sunday 13 July.

Tickets can be purchased on the Bendigo Art Gallery website.