Immersive Frida Kahlo exhibit in Pittsburgh encompasses artist’s tumultuous life
Frida Kahlo lived most of her life in pain.
Her art reflects the hurt.
The Mexico native’s work is being showcased in Immersive Frida Kahlo at Lighthouse ArtSpace Pittsburgh on the North Side.
The exhibit opened Saturday and will continue at least through May.
“Frida’s parents urged her to paint to keep her from getting depressed, and her artwork helped her express her pain,” said Vicente Fusco of Mexico, who lives in Charlotte, N.C., and is associate producer of the show. “The exhibit is not just art. It has emotion.”
Frida Kahlo was born Magdalena Frida Carmen Kahlo y Calderón on July 6, 1907, in Mexico City.
She was diagnosed with polio at 6. At 16, she was accepted to the National Preparatory School in Mexico City. She had planned to become a doctor.
Kahlo was involved in a bus accident at 18. She fractured her spine, and complications led to 32 surgeries.
While recovering from the accident, her parents commissioned an easel and rigged mirrors to her bed that allowed her to paint.
Kahlo is known for self-portraits — they account for a third of her paintings — and painting in bright colors.
She has been quoted as saying, “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.”
Many of those self-portraits are part of this art performance, which is more than paintings hanging on a wall. They surround viewers. Sounds are synced as the art appears. Pillars inside the former warehouse have been covered in mirrors and distort some of the pictures.
The exhibit is co-produced by Impact Museums and Lighthouse Immersive. Pittsburgh is one of nine cities housing the exhibit. The capacity is 299 people.
Organizers said they chose Pittsburgh because it is the No. 2 city per capita in the U.S. behind New York in arts attendance, he said. This part of the North Side was selected because of its proximity to Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, the Andy Warhol Museum, the sports stadiums, the river trail and the Strip District.
The 42-minute production features Kahlo’s work in a larger-than-life scenario. The art is showcased from floor to 20-foot ceiling and accompanied by music inside the former warehouse, which encompasses 33,000 square feet. It is 500,000 cubic feet of art with 90 million pixels and 1.2 million frames of video.
“It’s a beautiful space,” Fusco said during an exhibition VIP party on Friday. “This exhibit is different than other entertainment. It’s large scale. It’s moving. It has a different energy than a traditional museum exhibit.”
At the VIP soiree, Carlos Obrador Garrido, head consul for the consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia, said Kahlo was an intellectual and that guests will learn about diversity and many aspects of her life through her art. He said her work brings a taste of Mexican culture to Pittsburgh.
“Frida is inspiring,” said Garrido, who oversees 35,000 Mexican nationals from Pennsylvania to Delaware to New Jersey. “This exhibit is a sensory experience. You see it. You hear it. You feel it.”
Kahlo died at age 47 in 1954.
Organizers describe her art as magic realism — blending realistic depictions of her life with fantastical elements to reflect her inner thoughts and struggles.
In addition to her medical situation, her marriage to Mexican painter Diego Rivera was a rocky one. She painted about her volatile relationship and her bouts of depression. There is a painting showing a large broken heart at her feet and another depicting her broken spinal column.
She used red, white and green hues in some works — colors of the Mexican flag.
The accompanying music in the show ranges from upbeat to subdued.
In May 2006, a Kahlo self-portrait, “Roots,” was sold for $5.62 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York. It set a record as the most expensive Latin American work ever purchased at auction.
The Kahlo exhibit follows Immersive Vincent Van Gogh, which had a successful run in Pittsburgh, Fusco said. He said the location has an industrial feel and has great potential. Every market is in a different space so no two shows are exactly the same.
“Pittsburgh embraced Van Gogh,” Fusco said. “We are working on what’s coming next.”
Timed tickets start at $40 and are available online.
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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