Frida and Diego exhibit opens at the AGO

Xtra speaks with the guest curator and asks, is Frida Kahlo misinterpreted?

The Art Gallery of Ontario opens its much-anticipated Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting exhibition this weekend. The collection of more than 80 works of art and photographs catalogues the artistic and personal marriage of Mexico’s most important artistic couple, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

The queer community has long claimed Kahlo as its own due to her gender-bending look and artwork. But her identity as a bisexual or lesbian remains a point of contention.

“Whether she actually had an affair with Tina Modotti or not we really don’t know,” says Dot Tuer, the guest curator of the exhibition. “Rather than the word ‘affair,’ I would say that she had a tremendous intimacy with women.”

Below is a video interview with Tuer.The exhibit runs until Jan 20, 2013.

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