FRIDA KAHLO AND DIEGO RIVERA, presented by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, is a story of love.

The 33 artworks presented in the exhibition open a door to the enigmatic relationship between the two artists.

Sourced from the private collection of Jacques and Natasha Gelman, the exhibition follows the linear development of Kahlo and Rivera as activists, lovers and creatives.

Rivera, who is said to have influenced Picasso, was already an established muralist when Kahlo met him. She became his student and further his wife in 1929, ensuing a famously volatile marriage that is present especially in her work.

The linear nature of the exhibition allows viewers to see how both artist’s individual style developed over time.

Viewers see Rivera’s earlier cubist pieces progress to the more unique, thick,colourful aesthetic he is known for in his large-scale canvas paintings.

It is also exposed that Kahlo’s surrealistic portraits have their roots in earlier work, exemplified by the pencil sketches she created whilst Rivera worked on commissioned murals.

Kahlo and Rivera’s works are hung side by side at eye level on white walls, with standouts pieces – such as Self Portrait with Monkeys 1943 – showcased on walls of bold colour.

The exhibition is broken up with over 50 photo-journalistic prints and comprehensive time-lines detailing Kahlo and Rivera’s lives with political and social reference.

The prints are especially captivating as they welcome viewers into private moments of both passion and sorrow.

Towards the end of the exhibition is a series of multi media pieces and draft like sketches, which reveal creative processes the artist’s have taken to reach their finished works.

Concluding the exhibition is a room containing three projected screens. Viewers are welcomed to sit down and take in the silence of the projections – rolling both black and white and colour footage.

The exhibition takes a full hour to go through, but is a beautiful celebration of the life and love of the “elephant and the dove”.

FRIDA KAHLO AND DIEGO RIVERA will be showing at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 25 June – 9 October 2016. Tickets can be bought online or at the gallery itself.

http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/frida-kahlo-and-diego-rivera/