I have just viewed Auckland Art Gallery's 'Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera - Art & Life in Modern Mexico', and when I stepped into the room displaying Frida Kahlo's 'Diego on My Mind Self-Portrait as Tehuana' (1943),
Maybe because, I had just walked through the room showing the glorious garments representing the dress and style of Frida Kahlo.
I adored the colours, the silhouettes, the simplicity of structure...the fact that they had clothing on display. (Mind you, Akld Art Gallery is not averse to clothing/fashion exhibitions)
These glorious garments start with the strong textile skills of the Indigenous women, who create beautiful fabric using the versatile backstrap loom. Squares of cloth with textures, patterns and embroideries of giant flowers, birds and animals create the stunning garments, such as Frida Kahlo wore.
The CdG White Drama collection is about the ceremonial grandeur of clothes.
The Frida Kahlo clothing is about the demonstration of her Mexican pride and identity.
Kahlo took on the traditional Tehuana dress, floral hairstyle, wide skirts, and embroidered huipiles when she was 20, the same age she joined the Mexican Communist Party.
The Tehuana costume is one of the most representative of Mexico. It comes from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
This is a good image of a backstrap loom.
One end is tied to a tree or pole, while the other end goes around the waist of the skilled crafter. (The backstrap loom was used among numerous cultures, African, Asian, and even Scandinavian, with the great aspect being that it is a highly portable method of weaving.)
Here's good view of one in action.
This link will take you through the beauty of the craft, and what it has to offer the women who undertake it, as it relates to huipil. https://www.mikoleon.com/blogs/news/the-backstrap-loom-and-the-huipil-weaving-emblems
The Huipil is a traditional embroidered style of dress in Mexico. The word means "Blouse or ornate dress", and it is usually decorated with embroidery, lace, braids and ribbons. The pattern of the huipil often reflects the ethnicity, family status and religious background of the person wearing it.
A well-woven huipil can last 20 to 30 years, if it is properly cared for. After that it might then be cut into little pieces of fabric, and used as a rug or quilt. I like that factor.
This article takes you through some beautiful Huipil and the stories behind them, as worn by young modern day Mexican women.
After I had visited the Akld Art Gallery exhibition, I was so inspired I came home and constructed my interpretation of a huipil.
I created it out of fabric I purchased in London's Berwick Street, over 17 years ago! The only shaping is in the neckline. A friend asked me if it was embroidered, to which I replied, "I would not say embroidered, but an embellishment on the fabric delivers a modern take on that concept."
The 'Resplandor' is the huipil of the head, as so gloriously demonstrated in "Diego on My Mind Self Portrait as Tehuana".
It is a small huipil with a collar and ruffles. Vestigial sleeves are evident, starched but not worn as such. The entire head is inserted and the ruffled neck frames the face. The garment covers the shoulders like a cloak, with one sleeve in the front and the other sleeve behind.
Apparently, Galante worked with Mexico's top fashion institute and makers in 18 parts of the country on this collection, which endeared him to the Mexican people, as it was felt he gave credit where credit was due, consequently he was not accused of any cultural misappropriation.
Here is a link to the collection. It is quite beautiful. https://door11.com/maurizio-galante-couture-fall-winter-2019-paris-27944/
And, this particular one,
again, has me thinking CdG, the 'Monsters' collection.
Pattern Magic Stretch Fabrics has a design on what could be seen as a resplandor style, a hooded t-shirt.
Before I go further, this video, 'The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo', is well worth a view. So much of her life is revealed, which made her the artist she is.
In 2014, an exhibition 'Appearances Can Be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo', was presented in La Casa Azul Museo.
La Casa Azul Museo is the house in Coyoacan, a suburb near Mexico City, where Frida Kahlo was born and raised. She also lived in it with Diego Rivera.
Want to know more about this astounding painting? Here's a good link. https://artincontext.org/the-broken-column-frida-kahlo/
they are so like the style of shoe I like to wear.
Kahlo's wardrobe had been discovered in the bathroom of La Casa Azul in 2004, 50 years after her death.
The exhibition presented Kahlo's original garments alongside contemporary designs reflecting inspirational aspects of the artist's clothing.
This link will take you into the exhibition, https://grey-magazine.com/chronicle/appearances-can-be-deceiving-the-dresses-of-frida-khalo/
I think the CdG dress, which is from the 2012 White Drama collection, is this one, although the exhibition shows it with long sleeves,
and, I also think the connection with Kahlo is from her 1944 painting, La Columna Rota (The Broken Column). An extremely evocative image of the agony and anguish that Kahlo experienced in her life. Tears, pins. pain, broken body.
Givenchy's Fall 2010 Haute Couture collection is also included in the exhibition. Riccardo Tisci said "his inspiration was Frida Kahlo and her three obsessions: religion, sensuality, and given the painter's lifelong battle with spinal pain, the human anatomy."
I am taken with these shoes from the exhibit, and how they accommodated Frida,
In 2016, 'Frida Kahlo: Fashion As The Art of Being', by Susana Martinez Vidal was published.
This is a very interesting lecture, delivered by Susana Martinez Vidal, author of the above book, in the first half, and Circe Henestrosa, curator of the La Casa Azul exhibition, in the second half.
Here's a link, in case video doesn't play ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uM24GM1Evo
I also viewed an informative lecture relating to 'Kahlo and Indigenismo in Mexico'. It was held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The lecturer looks at pre-Hispanic and colonial era of Mexican history, revealing how Kahlo and her contemporaries worked with this deep history.
(Again, a link, just in case https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpI52-dyEm8)In 2018 the wonderful V&A presented a Kahlo exhibition, 'Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up'.
Again, it was based on the discovery in La Casa Azul, and got described as "A fresh perspective on Kahlo's compelling life story through her most intimate personal belongings."
This will take you to all sorts of interesting snippets, https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/frida-kahlo-making-her-self-up items to read, videos to view and discussions to listen to.
And of course, they have a wonderful 'Make and Do' section, in this case, a huipil.
Remember when I was describing the one I made, I said the only shaping was in the neckline, if you take this link and view the downloadable pattern, you will see that is the case.
I think there is an aspect of this delightful Frida touch in some of the garments from the Comme Des Garcons Fall 2005 collection, Broken Bride.
And Jean Paul Gaultier's 1998 Spring RTW collection, which was inspired by Frida Kahlo and the goth rocker Marilyn Manson.
There's many a cool take on the floral headwear.
It is worth viewing the whole collection, if interested https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-1998-ready-to-wear/jean-paul-gaultier
There is something about this one I really like, the way it captures Frida in a masculine suit and the flowers in the hair.
Here's a nice way to introduce young ones to Frida Kahlo's creativity, a cool craft making session.
https://www.artbarblog.com/make-frida-kahlo-felt-flower-crowns/?unapproved=41428&moderation-hash=fa302555bcce0a87cad6735d2e4bf64e#comment-41428
Again, the Museo Frida Kahlo had lent out over 200 objects from La Casa Azul. Garments, accessories, correspondence, cosmetics, medicine and orthopaedic aids. The exhibition traced the way Frida cultivated her image, that image that reflected her cultural heritage, her experience of gender and her experience of living with a disability.
In September, 2022, La Palais Galliera opened their exhibition, 'Frida Kahlo, Au-Dela des Apparences'.
Again, the Museo Frida Kahlo had lent out over 200 objects from La Casa Azul. Garments, accessories, correspondence, cosmetics, medicine and orthopaedic aids. The exhibition traced the way Frida cultivated her image, that image that reflected her cultural heritage, her experience of gender and her experience of living with a disability.
This pdf presents lots of information relating to the exhibition https://www.palaisgalliera.paris.fr/sites/galliera/files/cp_dp_visuels/dossiers_de_presse/dp_eng_frida_bd_0.pdf
It covers a variety of interesting information, and the section that interests me, relates to this book.
Frida's corset.
Katerina Jebb was invited by both the Museo Frida Kahlo and the Palais Galliera to capture Kahlo's world in La Casa Azul.
English born Jebb, a self-taught artist, initially focused on photography, but went on to create wonderful work based on photomontage, using a scanner. Her work for the above publication is described as engaging in a dialogue with Frida's writings. I would love to flick through this book!
Here is a glorious example of her work, just to give you some idea. It does not relate to the Frida Kahlo exhibition.
I now return to my Auckland Art Gallery experience.
I appreciated the Patti Smith connection, her photos from the time she visited La Casa Azul in 2012, and the profound experience it was for her.
I loved this painting by Diego Rivera. 'Portrait of Natasha Gellman'
My fabric creation homage to it. An Arum Lily. (Calla Lily)
Last image from me, my huipil, wearing it with necklace, which has an aspect of thorn edges to it.
Made me think about Frida's 'Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird'
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SLTSLTBsigning off after a highly stimulating visit to Auckland Art Gallery.
