Frida Kahlo

So I finally went to see the Frida Kahlo retrospective at the Walker last Sunday - the last day it was on view. I'd been putting it off because I knew it would be crowded and it definitely was. The line to get into the museum was sort of long but only took a few minutes. The line for the show itself was far longer and took an hour and a half. I kept busy by reading all free literature available, drawing pictures, virtually rearranging the furniture in my bedroom in little diagrams on paper and making lists of things I need/want to do.

There were two couples in front of me - hipsters in their late teens/early twenties. I pretty much ignored them and didn't listen to their conversation. After about 45 minutes of slowly snaking around in line, one of the girls asked me what I was doing, so I told her (lists of things to do, notes to myself, doodles). She asked me if I was taking notes and writing about her and her friends! I told her that, um, no, I wasn't, and that that would be really creepy. I was stunned at how obnoxious and self-preoccupied her comment was. Then they sneaked two of their friends in line ahead of me later on (despite my rage I was just too tired and beat down from standing in line to make a big deal about it and draw attention to myself) so they were jerks as well as obnoxious.

Anyway, after the big huge wait, I finally got in to see the show. It was hot and the air was stuffy from so many people breathing. It was pretty crowded inside so I did my usual wander around to minimize the time waiting to see different works. It was a very comprehensive show - so many of the works I'd read about and seen in books were there. I was surprised at how big many of the paintings were. I expected more of them to be really tiny and they weren't. I could see why so many of them reproduce in print so well. I was impressed by many of the paintings' little details. They were often more interesting than what I would have ever expected. To me that is where her real talent shined through. The self portraits were sometimes the main aspect of the paintings that interested me and caught my eye and sometimes they weren't - they were offhand in a way - allowed her to literally put herself in there with the other items she was depicting and that was really interesting to me. Well worth the wait to see it all!

The Walker gallery space for the show was really disappointing. The art was hung in a white cube with absolutely no design elements to tie the show together and make it look good. It was like they could have just hung them in my cousin's whitewashed garage and they would have looked better. The poor design cheapened the look of the works and made me really wish the show had been at the MIA instead. They would have done a much better job of curating it, I think. It was in keeping with how I feel about the inside of the newly designed Walker in general: big disappointment. Instead of impressing me and making me appreciate the modernity of everything, I just miss the old setup even more. Sure it had it's flaws but the art always was showcased well and it felt like there was a system and a flow to everything and now there just isn't and it's a big old blah mess.