The first surprising thing about Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution, the new exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia, is how long it takes to see a work by Frida Kahlo. While Rivera was the bigger celebrity during their lifetimes, now it is Kahlo’s paintings – and her face – that you will find on tote bags, fridge magnets and candles.
The first room contains beautiful historic footage of Mexico City, where the couple lived, as well as photographs from Kahlo’s father, Guillermo Kahlo, and print reproductions of Diego Rivera’s frescoes. In the next, there are two paintings that are unmistakably Rivera’s: Landscape with cacti (1931) and Calla lily vendor (1943). Nearby, there are works by Kahlo and Rivera’s contemporaries: Juan Soriano, Carlos Mérida, María Izquierdo. It’s an expansive reading of Mexican modernism, placing Kahlo’s and Rivera’s careers in context.
