Shreveport’s R.W. Norton Art Gallery is hosting a traveling exhibit: The World of Frida from September 24 to November 28. The exhibit originated in the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California and has been shown in museums around the country. The R.W. Norton Gallery is the sixth stop for the exhibit.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist who lived from 1907 to 1954, through some of the most turbulent times of her country’s and the world’s history. Her art drew its inspiration from Mexican folk culture, an influence that grew stronger as her career progressed. Frida Kahlo is one of the most easily recognized artists in the world. Her iconic face and colorful dresses (based on a Mexican dress she wore to one of her first exhibits in New York City) are firmly embedded in popular culture.

I’ll have to admit, my own interests are more historical than artistic. Kahlo’s affair with Leon Trotsky during his exile in Mexico City a few years before his assassination by a NKVD agent sent by Josef Stalin in 1940 and her painting Self Portrait with Stalin were the sum total of what I knew about the artist.
One of the more enjoyable aspects of writing the Kevin Hits the Road travel series is getting outside my comfort zone and exploring places that I might not necessarily find interesting. I have yet to be disappointed by my experiences on the road.

The World Of Frida is a celebration of Frida Kahlo and her work by over 90 artists from around the world. The artists interpreted her life in a variety of ways and in a variety of media, from portraits to sculpture. The R.W. Norton Gallery and Gardens is an absolutely wonderful place with something for everybody. The World of Frida is well worth a visit for art devotees as well as anyone interested in learning more about the world around them.

The R.W. Norton Art Gallery
4747 Creswell St. Shreveport
318-865-4201
http://www.rwnaf.org/
Free and open to all ages

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