Immersive art shows are having a moment: there are rival Van Gogh exhibitions happening in New York – and the Yayoi Kusama exhibition in London has basically broken Instagram.
Fan of Frida Kahlo? You’re in luck: a similar show has just opened in Mexico City. In keeping with her maximalist style (well, sort of), several of her artworks have been projected on to walls and visitors can walk among 360-degree interpretations of her paintings.
The 35-minute show is housed in Frontón México, a gaudy art-deco entertainment venue in the capital. It features some of Kahlo’s best-known works, with ‘The Two Fridas’, ‘Girl With Death Mask’, ‘Me and My Parrots’ and ‘The Broken Column’ beamed all over the walls and floors. Narration is provided via Kahlo’s own letters and diaries, and there is also a soundtrack of traditional Mexican music.
The autobiographical dimension of her work has been given the blockbuster-exhibition treatment, as the show breezes through her explorations of disability and fraught romantic history. While it has the blessing of Kahlo’s estate – who in a statement described the show as a perfect expression of her ‘avant-garde and modern’ attitude – it’s a thoroughly corporate affair, sponsored by the National Bank of Mexico Citibanamex and OCESA, a Mexican concert promotion company.
For those who do feel inspired, the show also has plenty of interactive features. Visitors can draw a ‘digital response’ to the exhibition and select which of Kahlo’s artworks best represents them – which is, realistically, quite a tricky task. Want to head down? Tickets range from MX$280 (£10, $14) to MX$369 (£13, $18), and the exhibition runs until September 30.
Not done with immersive art yet? This show really does sound like quite the spectacle.
Want more Frida? Take a trip to her bright blue villa in Mexico City.
Plus: see more than 800 of her artworks in this epic virtual exhibition.