'She was a woman to whom life had been cruel...'

I was introduced to Frida Kahlo's work by Michael Marra's wonderful song about her imagined visit to Dundee's Tay Bridge Bar, and his song also shaped my view of her 'part-time' husband, Diego Rivera.  Yesterday we went to the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester to see the Kahlo / Rivera exhibition.



Knowing nothing of them, I went in with the sterotypical view of Kahlo as mistreated wife and exceptional talent, and Rivera as philandering bastard who did a bit of painting - as Marra puts it, 'a fat man of the naive school'!  Shame on me for knowing so little. 

I learned that Rivera's was undoubtedly the greater talent, but as a muralist his work isn't seen in galleries but on the walls of his native Mexico and in the States - most critics regard him as the greatest Mexican artist of the 20th century (not being an art connoisseur, I don't know how much above being the greatest ping-pong player in South Wonston that is, but it probably means he was pretty good).   I loved his work, from the portraiture through to the Mexican landscapes with huge cacti, and I'd like to see more of his murals.  There was a lovely book about the murals but at £135 it seemed more than a little bit steep.



Kahlo's work was weird but beautiful.  A huge proportion of her work was self portraits and in them she managed to make herself much less beautiful than she was in real life.  Alongside her work with its somewhat simplistic symbolism, were photographs by her one-time lover, Nicholas Murray.  In the photographs the unibrow is less defined, and what often looks to be not far off a moustache in the paintings simply seems to be shadow. 



I loved the way that the curator had resisted the glib opportunity to put Rivera's and Kahlo's paintings side by side, but had opted for separate rooms.  For example, it would have been too obvious to put their respective paintings of Natasha Gelman together and let the viewer compare their styles - far better to absorb each work in its merits and then reflect on the similarities and differences.  That also does Kahlo a favour, because while her work is the more striking, Rivera's picture of Gelman is the more accomplished piece of work (god, that was a bit of a Brian Sewell moment, wasn't it?)  

The rest of the gallery was a joy too, from the Pop Art through to the photographs of Butlin's at Bognor Regis - and the coffee shop was also good.   The best bit for me - maybe even better than the Kahlo / Rivera exhibition, were the Amberley Panels, or more accurately, Joy Gregory's modern take on them.

http://www.joygregory.co.uk/archive/details.php?proj_id=5

She has taken the nine Amberley Panels - 16th century images of strong women, with inscriptions in latin - and done modern versions.  Her photographs are stunning, and the inscriptions in English - I fell in love with them.  It's odd how the most unlikely pieces of art touch different people in very different ways. 




Pallant House Gallery is a great place for a day out, and Tuesday's are half-price which was an unexpected bonus.  It's well worth a visit.

Next week we'll be seeing the inestimable Michael Marra in concert at the 'Embra' Festival - I'm sure he'll do 'Frida Kahlo's visit to the Tay Bridge Bar', and it's bound to be even more evocative following our day out in Chichester.