Artist Kahlo through the eyes of a friend

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.