MCANINCH ARTS CENTER ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE EXHIBITION OF FRIDA KAHLO WORKS
The 26-piece collection, on loan from the Museo Dolores Olmedo, features an array of sketches and paintings spanning the career of Kahlo, who is considered one of Mexico’s greatest artists. Best known for self-portraits highlighting themes of identity, politics, sexuality and death, Kahlo channeled her childhood and personal struggles into her art and became an icon of feminism, activism and Mexican heritage.
“This unique collection of works is deeply tied to Kahlo’s personal narrative. It covers an arc of her life and career,” said Justin Witte, Cleve Carney Art Gallery Director and exhibition curator. “It’s a full arc tied into her person and covers her accident, which is when she started to create self-portraits.”
After surviving polio at age 6, Kahlo suffered life-threatening injuries in a streetcar accident as a teenager. The accident left her with a broken spinal column and a pelvis impaled by a steel handrail, among a myriad of other injuries. Bedridden for months, Kahlo initially painted the plaster corsets which held her in place as she recovered. Later, with the aid of a special easel that allowed her to paint lying down, Kahlo began investigating self-portraiture as she gazed in a mirror attached to the ceiling.
Justin Witte, Cleve Carney Art Gallery Director and exhibition curator
