I was moved to see and feel how much life and spirit came from such a fragile creature, like the deer she has made of herself in La venadita (Little Deer), shot full of arrows and bleeding, with eyes calm and perseverant. Most know her story, of the tragedy, physical pain and suffering she lived; polio at 6, spinal bifida, a horrific bus accident, numerous back surgeries, miscarriages, and foot surgeries.

Yet as an artist, nothing stopped Frida. Her body seems to have been a crucible; the vessel that burned up and transformed all the pain into something timeless and real, her art. And the urgency one feels in her work- shown both in the immediacy of the moment she captures, but also by the sense that she needed to make art to survive.

    "I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best" she  is quoted.

I was blown away by the courage in her work, her presence as an artist in the midst of pain. She did not try to escape her world with indirect images of sweet things or abstract themes. Her art shows that she dove right into it, as if the only escape from pain was inside the heart of it; suffering brought into the light of canvas and day.

   "I drank down my pain, but the damned pain learned how to swim, and now I   am overwhelmed by this decent and good behavior." she said.

The surreal part of her work for me- goes deeply beyond the label. It is something totally uncontrived because it is born of her experience and stays there completely. There is the stark realism of the images in perfect detail; her dress, political symbol, fetus, and landscape-- but just like physical pain, there is that unreal element~ that place where pain goes, taking us 'out of our minds' into strange and otherworldly places. This happens naturally in her paintings in the form of landscapes darkly distinct from light, heads traveling away from bodies, lightning bolts, and bursting suns.

I hadn't noticed before how Frieda's art shows so many symbols of comfort too. Though they can be small, there is often the sun, moon, butterflies, flowers, her dogs, bright colors, plants, the large stones of her necklaces, roots traveling deep in soil, La Frontera, and spirits of the Mexican land (Señor Xólotl). There are celebrations too; "The Love Embrace of the Universe", "Portrait of Lucha Maria", "Magnolias", self portraits with her monkeys and parrots, and the still life fruit series from the early 1950's.

The retrospective takes you from a life in paintings into rooms of her life with family, friends, and lovers-- caught in photographs. They are from the Vicente Wolf collection of New York (which houses about half of Frida's own collection of photos, and memorabilia, the Museo Frida Kahlo housing the rest). It begins with photos of her early years taken by her German born photographer father, Guillermo Kahlo, and moves through her large and mysterious life as shown by photographers Lola Alvarez Bravo, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Gisele Freund, Nickolas Murray and others. I particularly loved the one with her playing a guitar!

This show also made me appreciate how well done the 2002 movie "Frida" was. How well Director Julie Taymor did (with Salma Hayek) enacting stories and events from Frida's life-- each showing the very piece of art her life inspired. I recommend seeing again the movie before the exhibit to enrich the experience even more. Of course, the film's music score is phenomenal, and won best original score, memorably performed by La Maestra Chavela Vargas and Diva Lila Downs.

For highlights from the exhibit see: http://www.sfmoma.org/media/features/kahlo/index.html

As a woman, the exhibit showed me the spirit and gusto of a life well-lived. As an artist, or one trying to live my art, the exhibit showed me how art ideally lives through us, despite us, our circumstances, our excuses. And it reminded me to do- express, sing, and play what I know best in my heart.

If you cannot get to the exhibit, no worries- the book that goes with the show- "Frida Kahlo" by the Walker Art Center, is wonderful- and shows I think all of the art and photos of the exhibit. It is more affordable than most art books and can be found at http://sfmoma.stores.yahoo.net/fridakahlo.html