/ARTS WEEKLY/ART-MEXICO: Wearing Kahlo, Rivera on T-shirts and in Perfume

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Oct 22 2002 (IPS) - People in Mexico, the United States, Europe and Asia will soon be able to wear the images and works of celebrated Mexican surrealist artist Frida Kahlo and her husband, the famed muralist Diego Rivera, thanks to a new line of t-shirts, pants, ties, scarves, and even perfume.

The two artists, icons of Mexican culture, have become fashionable worldwide, and will be at the epicentre of a merchandising thrust that they could never have imagined.

The Mexican company that plans to make a killing with the new products based on the images and names of Kahlo and Rivera, who died in 1954 and 1957, respectively, is Godven International, which has bought the copyright for using their images and reproductions of their paintings.

The new Kahlo and Rivera clothing and perfume lines ”are aimed at promoting Mexican art in the world, especially among the young,” the director of Godven International, Jaquelina Alcalá, said in late September.

But not everyone agrees with the company’s arguments. ”This clothing and perfume idea is pure money-making opportunism,” María Toledo, the owner of a Mexico City art gallery, told IPS.

”The talk about promoting the artists is just a pretext, since they are already famous for their art, not because of vulgar merchandising schemes,” she added.

This is not the first bout of Fridamania that has been seized on and fuelled by merchandisers. Everything from posters and salt and pepper shakers to calendars, key rings, dolls and computer mousepads have been sold with the artist’s image.

But now people in Mexico and abroad will be able to actually wear Kahlo and Rivera, on t-shirts and other items of clothing that will hit the market early next year, and perfumes to be presented this month in the United States and Europe.

Among the clothing designed by the Mexican company are ties carrying images taken from Kahlo’s ”Self-Portrait with Necklace of Thorns”, where the artist’s eyes, under her signature thick, single eyebrow, are ringed with drops of blood.

Another item is pants stamped with the names of the two artists, and t-shirts carrying their portraits.

The ”Frida Kahlo” perfume possesses a blend of watermelon, peach, rose and jasmine, while the ”Diego Rivera” fragrance combines amber and sandalwood. Both will be sold in 100 ml. bottles that were designed in Italy.

Godven International executives reported that an exclusive series of porcelain plates with 24-carat gold edging and reproductions of the artists’ works would also be placed on the market.

The husband and wife team, who were militant in communist and nationalist political groups, left a vast, world-renowned body of work.

Rivera was best-known for his enormous murals on social themes. Kahlo, who suffered various illnesses and accidents that left her prostrate in bed, focused on much more intimate subjects, often self-portraits or still lifes that blended plant forms with animal life.

”We are talking about two figures who are so well-known that they penetrate all spheres, and are gradually overcoming all barriers, reaching every strata of society,” said Alcalá.

The fame of the two artists stretches far beyond the borders of Mexico. Biographies have been shot of Kahlo’s life, most recently a Hollywood production in which the artist is played by Mexican actress Salma Hayek.

Kahlo, who was 20 years younger than Rivera, met him in 1928 and became his third wife. Their famous relationship, in which both took lovers, was full of ups and downs.

Today their fame will continue to expand, this time on t-shirts and perfumes. ”I don’t know what else they’ll invent, just to make money,” said Toledo.