As the art world’s love affair with Frida Kahlo continues, the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is unearthing one of the Mexican artist’s hidden talents: gardening.
The exhibition, titled, “Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life,” is inspired by the courtyard garden at Kahlo’s Mexico City home. Named the Casa Azul for its striking blue walls, the lush garden that Kahlo once tended and still exists today.
The NYBG has transported that idyllic setting to the Bronx, filling the landmark Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with cacti, flowers, and other flora that Kahlo either planted or painted.
In putting together the accompany presentation of works by the artist, guest curator Adriana Zavala found a recurring exploration of conceptual themes such as hybridity and duality. “One of the ways she was doing that very powerfully was through the depiction of plants and animals,” Zavala told artnet News in the video above.
Coyoacán, a neighborhood in Mexico City where Casa Azul is located, is designated one the city’s Barrios Magicos, or Magic Neighborhoods, by Mexico’s secretary of tourism. A little taste of what makes the area so special has now made its way to New York City, where visitors to the garden can get a peek at a recreation of Kahlo’s studio, nestled amid the greenery, or enjoy a margarita or a Mexican draft beer at the cantina. This summer and early fall, visitors might even enjoy the sounds of Los Villalobos Brothers, the garden’s first musical artist in residence, under the stars during Frida al Fresco evenings.
“Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life” will be on view at the New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, May 16–November 1, 2015.