FRIDA KAHLO ::: LA CASA AZUL
Last week I visited Frida Kahlo's house and I felt her everywhere. When you arrive to La Casa Azul - Museo Frida Kahlo, expect to wait in line for about 20 - 30 minutes. Don't worry because you can buy chapulines with lime off the street. You should eat them! They're a great source of protein.
I just ate a grasshopper.
I don't know what tense this reflection is supposed to be written in because it feels like I am still living it. You see, I haven't left La Casa Azul, a piece of my soul was left behind. Is this supposed to be a fleeting memory? I am utterly directionless but I will try and reveal everything I remember. Here it goes.
When you first walk into La Casa Azul, it is everything you expect: lots of color, lots of life, lots of old memories, lots of greenery and most of all lots of energy. You immediately get a sense of the legend she is. The blue is so powerful. It takes control of you and suddenly I feel like I'm a Mexican bohemian artist walking around one of the most popular places in Coyoacán. I can really feel her energy and I suddenly remember that she died upstairs in 1954. It is like she is sitting on a rocking chair, smoking a cigarette and smiling at you with her hair down. The plants are all very much alive. A small flower fell on my big braided hair. It was the tiniest flower. My cousin told me that Frida was trying to speak with me.
Diego Rivera
The first set of galleries are her early paintings and then it continues on to Diego's work, which I thought was cool because there is a strong piece from his earlier cubism days. I don't know why this (pictured) was Diego favorite. I guess you can say that I do really like Picasso. Maybe it runs deeper than that? My grandmother did tell me that she thought it was interesting that "Frida was more famous than her husband." This work shows him during a different time of his life.
I love seeing the work that artists did earlier on in their careers. It is fascinating to see how they evolve. Next room, you go through a series of documentation of her political, social and romantic contemporaries and encounter the many photographs taken by various photographers who adored her. You have no feeling of fear and you know that something magical is coming.
After you leave the galleries, you venture to the next section of the house that consists of La Cocina, Diego's bedroom and a stairway that leads to her art studio and personal library. You can see how traditional the kitchen is. My cousin told me that they could have used electric appliances but chose not to. I love the pottery here.
After you leave the galleries, you venture to the next section of the house that consists of La Cocina, Diego's bedroom and a stairway that leads to her art studio and personal library. You can see how traditional the kitchen is. My cousin told me that they could have used electric appliances but chose not to. I love the pottery here.
Her studio was absolutely heaven and it made me want to rearrange everything in my apartment. I made my own self-portrait in the mirror. I loved all of the paints.
She had two bedrooms. One was used during the daytime and one for the nighttime. I finally faced what I knew was haunting me: Frida herself. She was cremated and her ashes remain inside the toad sculpture on the vanity. She often called Diego a toad.
Her garden was absolutely beautiful. We were finally able to walk through her world.
