Escape to myself

I visited this exhibition with a friend today. I’ve long had a deep appreciation for this artist: her talent, resilience, integrity and intelligence. Facing immense difficulties in her health she showed an indomitable spirit surviving polio, a horrific accident in her teens and lifelong suffering. Spending many years immobile she painted from her bed. She made her life her art combining it with her understanding of her mestiza cultural heritage in Mexico.

The preoccupation with the mystical, shamanistic and dreamlike qualities lead to the creation of a unique perspective on politics, surrealism, death and gender. Her life became the canvas on which she drew and her unflinching and indefatigable vision on miscarriage and relationships never wavered. I have an intense respect for her.

The exhibition concentrated on her role as “icon” particularly her image after her death. I’m always suspicious of the word icon which is so overused in this context. I found some of the imagery she used to explore her life used and transformed and perhaps exploited by later artists a little uncomfortable… I felt it was a kind of appropriation rather than homage. The only one I felt authentic in its emotion was that by Tracy Emin who for me had similar life experiences. The last room exhibiting the artist as commodity felt very ironic. It contained such items as shoes, tote bags, souvenirs incorporating her image and the room lead straight into the shop where tote bags, scarves and toys were on sale.

About seven years ago I visited an exhibition of her work at the V & A which, in my view, was curated with greater insight into her life and work and through which I learned much more. This exhibition was for me more an exercise in approaching the cultural impact rather than her work. Interesting but not really challenging. Just a lay persons view. Go and see what you think.