Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s art and life is subject of new immersive exhibit in NYC

NEW YORK — Nearly 70 years after her death, the world’s fascination with Frida Kahlo continues to flourish — generating popular culture conversations in ways the groundbreaking Mexican artist would likely not even understand.

That includes exhibitions chronicling her life and work; an upcoming Broadway musical exploring the artist’s intercontinental career; and even the alleged burning of an estimated $10 million Frida Kahlo drawings as part of an NFT launch, which has sparked a criminal investigation by Mexican authorities.

Now, a new Brooklyn exhibition described as an “immersive biography” of the artist is giving viewers the opportunity to not only admire Kahlo’s unique work — but feel like they’re part of it.

“Frida Kahlo: The Life of an Icon,” which opened last week at the Immersive Pavilion (261 Water St.) in Dumbo, lets fans experience the art and the pain of the celebrated magic realist painter through virtual reality, installations, digital art and projections that reimagine some of the most relevant moments of her professional and personal life.

The exhibit, which leads visitors on a 90-minute tour through seven interactive rooms with names such as Living Fragments, The Dream, and Infinite Symbology, is described as a “reactive sensory installation,” is a co-creation of the Frida Kahlo Corporation and the Barcelona-headquartered digital arts center Layers of Reality.

It will bring together “art and fashion lovers, those inspired by Frida’s message and journey, history and technology experts by immersing them in the many facets of Frida Kahlo’s incredible life,” according to Andres Naftali, owner of Primo Entertainment, the Miami-based company that brought the show to the U.S.

The exhibit, which has already traveled through Europe and other North American cities including Phoenix and Montreal, shows Kahlo as “an icon of strength, a victim of love, a genius of art and a symbol of freedom,” Naftali said.

Not to mention a record-smashing painter. Born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, the iconic artist who spent much of her life in pain — after contracting polio as a child and surviving a devastating bus accident at 18 — is also Latin America’s most collectible artist. Last year, the self-portrait “Diego and I,” from 1949, sold for a record-breaking $34.9 million at Sotheby’s in New York.

Kahlo died in 1954 at age 47.

The Brooklyn exhibition isn’t the only show that gave American audiences a one-of-a-kind look at the artist known for her self-portraits, bold colors and powerful imagery — as well as her turbulent relationship with her husband, fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera, whom she married twice.

“Mexican Geniuses: A Frida & Diego Immersive Experience” which recently closed in London and is currently showing in Washington, D.C., uses 360-degree “video-mapping technology” to bring Kahlo and Rivera’s greatest masterpieces to life.

“Frida: Immersive Dream,” which wrapped up a tour through nine North American cities in August, focused on how “she overcame pain and adversity through self-expressions — turning her life into art.” The exhibit featured 500,000 cubic feet of art, 1.2 million frames of video, 90 million pixels, as well as some high-profile attendees, including fellow icons famous female artists Madonna and Christina Aguilera.

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