Artist Kahlo through the eyes of a friend

JAKARTA (JP): It's an enduring image of 20th century pop culture: the fixed gaze from black, deep-set eyes, the small arched lips and the furrow of eyebrows merging into one.

And, yes, the unruly smudge of a moustache.

This is the imposing, severe, almost masculine countenance of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, which can be found in her glorious, disturbing paintings that explore and document her equally glorious and tragedy-filled 47 years.

"Her face is so strong, so penetrating, which is one of the reasons we decided to bring these wonderful photographs here," said the cultural attache of the Mexican Embassy, Constantino Morales, who has organized an exhibition of 50 photographs by Lola Alvarez Bravo.

The latter was part of the salon of leftist political activists and artists who gathered around Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera. Alvarez Bravo (1905-93) married Manuel Alvarez Bravo when she was 16, and the couple later took up photography together. After they separated, Alvarez Bravo (she kept her former husband's name) worked as the head of the photography department at Mexico's National Institute of Fine Arts, continuing to photograph and exhibit her works.

Alvarez Bravo's images succeed in providing a deeply personal insight into her subjects, which capture the essence of who they were, even though the photos were obviously posed and the camera was in friendly hands.

Rivera, who despite bearing a strong resemblance to actor Charles Laughton was known as a womanizer, was photographed posed against the carcass of a tree trunk, his jowly, scowling face as lacking in feeling as the desert landscape behind him.

Although Rivera and other members of the Mexican arts community are among the portraits, it is Kahlo who will be the main draw for those who have seen her works and read biographies of her tragic life (she was scarred for life in her teens when she was literally impaled on a steel bar in a horrific traffic accident).

Alvarez Bravo's camera lovingly cradles Kahlo, who is photographed in traditional Mexican dress, lost in thought as she gazes at the floor or looks at herself in the mirror, a small, inscrutable smile on her face. With her dogs for company, Kahlo is a solitary figure, injured but proud as she faces her friend behind the camera. (brc)

Frida Kahlo and Her Friends will be open to the public from Friday at La Casa de Mexico, Jl. Panglima Polim III, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, until March 28. Opening hours 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.