A highlight of the new Frida Kahlo exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany, is a panoramic presentation of her paintings flashed on walls and set to music and sound effects. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)
The lineage of the iconic and inventive Mexican painter known the world over for her unibrow traces straight back to southern Germany.
That’s one surprising factoid about Frida Kahlo that I picked up at a new Stuttgart exhibition celebrating her work. Viva Frida Kahlo opened last month at Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle and runs through March.
It offers an immersive experience of a legendary artist known for her eye-catching self-portraits and lifestyle that broke free from convention. In the process, it provides insights about her background and what inspired her.
I didn’t know much about Kahlo ahead of my recent visit to the exhibition, at least beyond her iconic image that’s become embedded in popular culture.
So I was surprised, given her deep connection to Mexico, that she was the daughter of a German photographer who hailed from nearby Pforzheim.
Her father was born Carl Wilhelm Kahlo and immigrated to Mexico at 19, never returning to his native Germany. The rest is art history.
The exhibition, which begins with a selection of replica paintings and panels about the artist’s life, is structured as a 360-degree experience.
The main presentation involves panoramic projections with music and various sound effects. There also is some interspersed narration in German. Still, you don’t need to know the language to appreciate the material.
Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s many self-portraits are among the highlights of a new exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany. Viva Frida Kahlo runs through March. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)
A new exhibition at Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, is dedicated to the famed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. It offers an immersive experience of her works and gives insights into what inspired her. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)
Viva Frida Kahlo is a new exhibition at Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, that is focused on the works of the iconic Mexican painter. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)
Information panels that are displayed in English ahead of the multimedia program also help visitors brush up on her background, with details about her turbulent marriage and various love affairs, such as dalliances with Josephine Baker and Leon Trotsky.
The program lasts for about a half hour and takes you through the various stages of Kahlo’s life, with family pictures and scenes from the time.
Her artwork is weaved throughout the presentation. Unfamiliar as I was with any of it besides the self-portraits, I was taken aback by the intensity of many paintings.
A series of graphic works related to her experience of having a miscarriage was especially jarring. Other pictures were bright and cheerful, with a focus on things like exotic birds and juicy watermelons.
After the presentation, visitors walk into another room for a virtual-reality Frida experience. The program is only about 10 minutes, but might have even topped the panorama show.
Once you put on the headset, a Kahlo look-alike starts singing. After that, you move through paintings brought to life and travel through a Mexican street scene with all kinds of references to her art.
The exhibition takes about an hour to get through. I enjoyed it all, but also felt like it would have benefited from more individual paintings to look at and study before entering the big panorama show.
Still, seeing the works of one of the world’s great artists brought to life in a multimedia setting proved to be a moving experience and one I’d recommend to novices and aficionados alike.
Viva Frida Kahlo
Address: 69 Mercedesstrasse, Stuttgart, Germany
Cost: Admission price is between 20 and 26 euros depending on the day.
Hours: Daily, 10 am.-9 p.m.
Information: www.vivafridakahlo.de/vfk/stuttgart
