Frida Kahlo. Una vita per immagini
The exhibition Frida Kahlo. A Life in Pictures,, promoted by the City of Riccione, Department of Culture and organized by Civita Exhibitions and Museums and Maggioli Cultura with the collaboration of Rjma Cultural Projects and Diffusione Italia International, opens at Villa Mussolini on an important and symbolic date, November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and will be open from November 26 until May 1, 2023. Protagonist of the exhibition is a 20th-century artist who has now become a global icon and has been able to influence taste and fashion, dictating her own very particular style and still inspiring new generations. Through a hundred or so shots, most of them original, the exhibition, curated by Vincenzo Sanfo, reconstructs the events of the great Mexican artist’s countercultural life, in search of the motivations that turned her into an international female and pop icon. The photos were taken by her father Guillermo during his daughter’s childhood and youth and then by some of the most̀ great photographers of her era-Leo Matiz, Imogen Cunninghan, Edward Weston, Lucienne Bloch, Bernard Silbertein, Manuel and Lola Alvarez Bravo, Nickolas Muray, and others. This extraordinary “photo album” chases the often painful but always passionate events of a life, as well as Frida’s loves, friendships and adventures. A group of small, very intimate photographs of Frida, taken by gallery owner Julien Levy, are also on display.
The exhibition itinerary first reconstructs the context in which his personality took hold: it is early 20th-century Mexico, traversed by a revolution that changed its history, thanks to humble campesinos and heroic protagonists such as Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. The epic and myth of the Mexican Revolution would remain etched in Frida’s mind and shape her indomitable character, fueling her sense of rebellion against bourgeois conventions and the impositions of a strongly masculinist society. Against this backdrop are the events of the Kahlo family. Guillermo, the father, is a professional photographer of German origin who came to Mexico in 1891 and soon fell in love with the country that welcomed him. His activity is evidenced by a number of photographs taken on behalf of the Austrian government to document churches in Mexico erected during the colonial period. Of mixed blood, German and Mexican, Frida grew up in the myth of a revolutionary Mexico, introjecting all the characters of a free and untamed̀ personality, who found in painting a passionate, visceral language, with strong contents unapologetically autobiographical, with which she told her story without hypocrisy. All his work is a form of self-analysis, searching for his own identitỳ and reason for living. In his many self-portraits he is not afraid to lay bare his weaknesses and anxieties. Next to Frida is often portrayed Diego Rivera, the painter and muralist with whom she shared an intense and turbulent relationship that spanned much of her life. But other figures such as Leon Trotsky and André Breton also appear there.
Finally, on display are some documents such as the original catalog of Frida’s exhibition organized by André Breton in Paris, the first “manifesto of revolutionary painting” signed by Breton and Rivera, some lithographs by Rufino Tamayo, a photographic documentation of her famous Casa Azul, and finally a video that collects the few filmed images of the great Mexican artist.
The entire exhibition tour is accompanied by an audio guide available to visitors and included in the ticket. The catalog, edited by Vincenzo Sanfo, is published by Papiro Art.
The exhibition will be open to the public from Nov. 26, 2022 until May 1, 2023, Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (closed Mondays). The ticket office closes half an hour before the exhibition closing time; the entrance fee includes the audio guide.
Entrance:
Open € 13.00, full € 12.00, reduced € 10.00 for groups of at least 12 visitors and holders of specially activated conventions. Special reduced € 5.00 for schools and young people up to 24 years old. Free for children under 6, 2 chaperones per class and chaperone of disabled. Reservation fee € 1.00 per person.
Information and reservations:
