Frida Kahlo exhibition at MUDEC in Milano

Leggi questo post in Italiano

On the 1st of February, the new exhibition dedicated to the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo opens at the Museum of Cultures in Milan (MUDEC) in via Tortona 56.

More than 100 works will be presented in the exhibition including 50 paintings, drawings, photographs and for the first time in Italy will be exhibited works from the two largest collections of Frida Kahlo in the world: the Museo Dolores Olmedo of Mexico City and the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection as well as loans from international museums and unpublished archival materials.

Frida Kahlo is one of the few artists we know more about her private life than her work. The exhibition aims to deepen his art and put it back at the center of her world, shifting attention from personal and love affairs.

Frida Kahlo, Selfportrait with monkey, 1938, olio on board, cm 40,64×30,48. Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear, 1966 © Photo Tom Loonan © Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. by SIAE 2018

Frida Kahlo, Self portrait, 1940, olio on aluminium, cm 63,5×49,5. Harry Ransom Center – The University of Texas, Austin © Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, México, D.F. by SIAE 2018

The exhibition opens to the public on Thursday, 1st February, and you can visit it until June 3rd, if you want to get ready for the visit I suggest you to see the beautiful movie “Frida” from 2002 where the Mexican painter is played by Salma Hayek.

If you want to read something I recommend 5 books:
A biography: Hayden Herrera, Frida
A monologue that manages to recreate in just 77 pages the Mexican revolution, the dramas and the love story between Frida and Diego Rivera: Pino Cacucci, Viva la vida!
A collection of letters: The Letters of Frida Kahlo
A novel: Jean-Marie Le Clézio, Diego e Frida. Un amore assoluto e impossibile sullo sfondo del Messico rivoluzionari
For kids: Frida Kahlo, Little People, Big Dreams

Visiting the Frida’s exhibition at Mudec is also an excellent opportunity to visit the museum itself, a beautiful architecture signed by the English architect David Chipperfield as the result of industrial archeology recovery in the former Ansaldo factory. Inside the museum you will also find a well-stocked and beautiful bookshop and a bistro/restaurant (with a starred chef Enrico Bartolini too!).