Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Frida Kahlo Show

Last night's opening was packed to the gills with people, and the attendance even surprised me a little.

In the middle of the announcements for the award winners, someone from the crowd suddenly piped in and shouted the most off putting and random question that can be asked in a juried show paying homage to the influences of a Mexican artist on contemporary artists.

"What about the looting of art by the Nazis in Europe," shouted a young woman sitting on the chairs reserved for the artists (she wasn't one of the artists and her question was essentially what I wrote above but expressed in a more rambling way). "I just found out about this and I didn't know that the Nazis had killed so many people."

I looked at her and she smiled.

The crowd hushed for a second, a little thrown off by this odd question, considering the context of what I was talking about and the place and theme of the exhibit.

I rolled onto a discussion about how any and all empires and empires-wanna-be's had always stolen the art and intellectual ideas of the conquered, I also gave her a little lesson in art history and brought the conversation back to Kahlo.

She had a Joker-type smile frozen on her face the whole time, but she stayed quiet after that.

Weird, uh?

In any event, the prize winners:


First Prize

Tanya Gramatikova, Tribute to Frida Kahlo II

Tanya Gramatikova, Tribute to Frida Kahlo II

Second Prize

Diane Kahlo - Las Desaparecidas

Diane Kahlo, Las Desaparecidas

Third Prize
Kathryn Cook art
Kathryn H. Cook

Honorable Mention
Katya Romero

Katya Romero, Petalos Negros


Honorable Mention
Marla McLean

Marla McLean


Honorable Mention
Nancy Pollack
Nancy Pollack

Honorable Mention
Priscilla Pompa Alvarez
Priscilla Pompa Alvarez


This is a very cool show... go see it.

The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery is located in the heart of Washington DC's U Street corridor at 1632 U St NW. Call them at 202-483-8600 for info.

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