“Immersive Frida Kahlo” surrounds visitors with the work of revered artist
"Immersive Frida Kahlo" will allow visitors to see the work of the Mexican artist up close.
In the "Immersive Frida Kahlo" exhibit, visitors can be face-to-face with the legendary artist.
The work of Frida Kahlo covers the walls in "Immersive Frida Kahlo."
In "Immersive Frida Kahlo," you are surrounded by the work of the revered Mexican artist.
"Immersive Frida Kahlo" will be in Pittsburgh through May.
Once seemingly destined for obscurity, Frida Kahlo is now one of the most recognizable artists in the world.
Visitors to "Immersive Frida Kahlo" on Pittsburgh's North Side will be surrounded by her distinctive work.
When Frida Kahlo died at age 47 in 1954, her casket was draped in the communist flag and most of the writers who noted her death identified her most prominently as the wife of painter and muralist Diego Rivera. Kahlo’s own colorful and provocative paintings seemed bound for obscurity, known perhaps only to aficionados of mid-century Latin American art.
Then, starting around 30 years ago, a whole Frida Kahlo industry sprang to life. Sidestepping the ideological commitments she held in her life, Kahlo has come to be identified both as a tragic figure and a revolutionary exemplar, a feminist before feminism took root and a creative thinker unencumbered by stale convention.
A quick perusal of the web reveals an endless bazaar of goods for sale with Kahlo’s image or art emblazoned on them — tote bags, T-shirts, crew socks, notebooks, lip balm, jigsaw puzzles, aromatherapy candles and on and on. Kahlo has decisively landed in the ranks of artists who have moved beyond museums and galleries to become household names, as recognizable as Pablo Picasso or Andy Warhol.
This being the case, it’s natural that the installation “Immersive Frida Kahlo” would come to the Pittsburgh space that has been occupied for the last several months by “Immersive Van Gogh.” Produced by Lighthouse Immersive and Impact Museums, the creators of the Van Gogh exhibition, “Immersive Frida Kahlo” will envelop visitors in Kahlo’s tumultuous life and visionary work as her paintings are “brought to life” through digital wizardry and musical accompaniment and stretch from the floor to the ceiling. It is at the Lighthouse Art Space on Pittsburgh’s North Side. At the same time, “Immersive Frida Kahlo” has also set up shop in Dallas, Boston, Houston, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco, and soon will be in Toronto and Los Angeles.
In Pittsburgh, it is running concurrently with “Immersive Van Gogh” through May. More information is available at www.immersive-frida.com.
“We’re trying to bring these artists closer to the public,” said Vicente Fusco, associate producer of “Immersive Frida Kahlo,” on a Zoom call from Charlotte, N.C., last week. “That’s one of our premises. If we’re bringing the artist and persona to the public in any way, that’s a big accomplishment.”
Kahlo’s heirs have been vigilant in protecting her image, going so far as to bring suit against toy manufacturer Mattel in 2018 for manufacturing a Frida Kahlo Barbie doll that did not have Kahlo’s distinctive unibrow. They have given their blessing to “Immersive Frida Kahlo” and have carried out some promotional duties for it. In an interview with KERA-TV in Dallas, Mara Kahlo, the great-niece of Frida Kahlo, said, “The exhibition is amazing because not only does it capture Frida the artist, but it captures Frida the woman, the one who cries, laughs and sings with her guitar.”
Along with Kahlo and Van Gogh, Toronto-based Lighthouse Immersive has staged exhibits built around the work of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt and street artist Banksy. Though some critics have been dismissive — a scribe for The Boston Globe said “Immersive Van Gogh” “has little to do with art, and everything to do with spectacle” — it has proven to be a success at the box office. In Pittsburgh, “Immersive Van Gogh” has sold more than 130,000 tickets since last fall.
Compared to seeing work by an artist in a museum, the “Immersive” exhibits are “a completely different experience,” Fusco explained. “It’s a different way of experiencing art altogether. We are thrown into an artwork that has movement, that has music. The format in its own right is a very unique thing.”
Fusco also hopes visitors walk away with a whole understanding of who Frida Kahlo was, and are inspired to continue exploring her life and work. He said, “It’s involved with the whole scope of who Frida Kahlo was as a person. It’s a very interesting take on female empowerment and gender equality and all these things that she stood for almost 100 years ago. The fact that she was doing all this so long ago and it’s incredibly relevant in this day and age.”
He added, “She was a pop icon ahead of her time.”