Kahlo-kitch, or Art for tourism’s sake

12 March 2024

My fault, but got into a overly ridiculous “facebook fued” with some guy (hding behind a ridiculous pseudym … “jumborumbo” or some-such over a praise for Merin McDivtt, who has been putting together a “Gringo’s Guide to Mexico City” and who highlithted the “other” charms of Coyoacán. Other than “Frida¿s House” that is. Setting off an overly long back and forth with Señor (one assumes, as their “avatar” is Ché Guevara) for whom, it appears, taking Kahlo with less than absolute reverence is tantamount to treason to Mexico

Of course, one can’t ignore Kahlo… and if you spend any time in tourist areas, it’s impossible to do so. Which was my point. There’s nothing “right” or “wong” about liking her are (though not to my taste, particularly… though especiallly women find it meaningful), only that foreigners (and even those “expats”) are likely to get the impression that Kahlo is THE one and only Mexican artist, and her painting are the “real Mexico”.

While she is considered a major 20th century artist, to put her in historical perspective… as Ms. McDivitt was doing (highlighting the many sites worth visiting in that charming corner of the Capital) sought to open the “expats” and tourists (and, I know those are overlapping categories) to a wider and more balanced view of the country, or at least the city. And she has done, for that neighborhood a fine job of it.

But, to the point:

Back in 2010, a new 500 peso bill was introduced, replacing General Zaragoza (the hero of Cinco de Mayo) with another hero… Diego Rivera. Part of what seemed to signal that Mexico wasn’t to present itself as a land of culture, with the poet-engineer Nezahuacoatl on the 100 peso note, and Sor Juana de la Cruz … poet, theologian, musician and … hell…. chef and construction manager (see Octavio Paz’ biography) on the 200. On the reverse of the bill, was Frida. Or, what’s said to be Frida.

Hilarity… sorta… ensured.

When the new bill was introduced at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, there were demonstrations. Demonstations are the national sport, and whatever the state does is going to attract a protest on one sort or another, but this was one of the more interesting ones. The demnstrators were the artist and the arts establishment, not that they objected to Rivera being honored on our money, but that they saw it as a sop to tourists, playing on the foreign appetite for Kahlo images already crowding out attention by the state and by the foreign establishment for consideration of other Mexican artists, and seemd to them yet another too cater not to Mexican cultural tastes, but to the perceived tastes of foreigners.

The bills are still circulating (although they were replaced in 2018 with Benito Juarez gracing the note), but Frida-mania, and the anti-Frida maniacs more and more having to ask whether focusing on one artist. While much of the interest in Kahlo centers on her colorful life (although, to be blunt, she really was better know for “knowing everybody” than actually taking much part in the Mexican “cultural revolution” that followed the 1910-1918 or so political revolution. Even among her peers, she was lless an activist (and given her physical difficulties, that’s perfectly understandable) than a hanger-on… and an eccentric one at that. Which might have more than a little to do with the fascination foreigners have… being sold for years on the (false) image of the passive Mexican woman, a victim of “machismo” unable to express her individuality… as if there weren’t any number of examples of women who did just that going back to the Conquest (think of Maria Estrada, the conquistadora, famous for her skill in skewering several Aztec warriors with her lance at one push… for a start, la Güerra Rodriquez, Foña Cata of the Zapotecas, Sor Juana, Elvia Carillo Puerto, and on and on. None of whom, unforuntely, were self-promoters married to one of the champion self-promoteers of all time. And, who didn’t have a colorful sex life with multiple (and interesting) partners like Leon Trotsky or Chavala Vargas under their belt.

Oh yes, any number of reasons to find Kahlo interesting, but atypical. One worth a film (Frida, 2002) but not one whose image has somehow been acquired by a foreign corporation (Frida Kahlo PLC, a Panamanian company with a Venezuelan CEO, headquartered in Florida) in 2004) and turned into an industry.

Who would buy Elvia Carrillo Puerto sunglasses…even in the Yucatan, when the same style of sunglasses were pretty much standard in the 1930s and 40s when you can get (for a mere 710 pesos on Mercado Libre?