Homage to Frida Kahlo
Gregg Chadwick Frida Kahlo 10"x10"oil on cigar box 2021 Private Collection Los Angeles My oil on wood cigar box painting of Frida Kahlo is the latest in a series of artworks that amplifies the shared culture between Mexico and the United States. Frida was a dynamo. Her artworks explore the realms of myth, memory, and physical reality in groundbreaking ways. My latest portrait of Frida is an homage to her work and influence. My painting imagines Frida when she lived in San Francisco. In 1930-31 Frida and Diego Rivera lived at 716 Montgomery Street in San Francisco, just down the hill from North Beach and Chinatown. Frida met and created with a group of artists who energized her creative process. KQED notes that "For six months, the couple stayed at the studio of Rivera’s old classmate and friend, sculptor Ralph Stackpole, who introduced them to an eclectic group of writers, painters and photographers." For a number of years, I lived in San Francisco at the corner o...
