Frida 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.
Frida painting the portrait of her father, by Gisèle Freund, 1951 © Frida Kahlo Museum
Curated by Mexican photographer and photography historian Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, ‘Frida Kahlo, her photos’ draws from the extensive archive of the Casa Azul (Blue House), Kahlo’s former home and now a museum dedicated to this much loved artist’s life and work.
Some 257 photographs capture the interests and obsessions Kahlo 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 as well as photographs of contemporaries including Man Ray, Martin Munkacsi, Fritz Henle, Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, Pierre Verger, and Lola and Manuel Alvarez.
Frida Kahlo, by Lola Álvarez Bravo, ca. 1944 © Frida Kahlo Museum
Bendigo Art Gallery
8 December, 2018 to 10 February, 2019
Victoria
