cultura

i'm a little teapot 

To cheer up, we decided to check out the Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera exhibition at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. I've seen Diego Rivera pieces before and an amazing Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Walker in Minneapolis, but nothing compared to the Jacques & Natasha Gelman Collection at the IMMA.

I'm not a huge fan of Rivera but there was a painting (The Healer? The Exorcism?) that gave me a new appreciation for his darker pieces. Mostly, I loved the variety of media from Ms. Kahlo. There were pen and ink drawings, sketches, anatomical diagrams, tiny oil paintings, and massive painted metal pieces. About half were recognizable to me and the other half were oddities with interesting explanations throughout the exhibit. Nathan made a good point when he said she didn't attempt to make herself more beautiful. As the subject of over 1/3 of her own paintings, she had every opportunity to glamazon herself. For whatever reason she emerged as a master of the perfectly-detailed unibrow instead. Gutsy.

The collection is here through the 26th of June and I will be back, as the museum closed before we could see the photographic series by her British ex-lover. A peek at the lovely gardens behind the IMMA:

lush

frolicking amongst the foliage

enjoying the greenery

maybe a little too much?

geometric flower beds