Joe McGee - "Frida and the Agave Plant", Mixed Media on Paper, 29 x 25 inches, 2014

WWFD? (What Would Frida Do?) ...in art, if she were alive today? How would she respond in creative terms to our post-modern, post-industrial, post-colonial world, to the frenzy of stimuli emitted from post-pc gadgetry, and to the arbitrariness of post-identity representation? Of course it is impossible to give a clear answer to this hypothetical, since Frida is no longer with us. Yet the question is not entirely out of reach. And by raising it we are brought to the heart of her artistic project, as we consider the spirit in which she thought about her circumstances and formulated her thinking in works of art.

Contrary to what you may have heard, Frida's distinctiveness is not found in her creative technique and process, nor in the subject matter she portrayed, nor even in the intense personal feelings she lived through and recorded. It lies rather in her representation of the self—specifically her own self—within the context or frame of collective experience. Again and again her paintings disclose elements of an inner being cast against the background of an outer world of social life, political and economic activity, familial and personal relations, and shared symbolic codes. The art plunges relentlessly inward, ever more toward the dense center of her private existence, while at the same time reaching outward to touch the universal human condition. The self is placed in dialogue with the social surround, sometimes reflecting metaphorically upon it, sometimes caught in vexatious discord with it, sometimes shaped by it, and sometimes standing opposite in stubborn refusal. 

WWFD? At Swanson Contemporary, artists Mari Mujica, Jacque Parsley, Diane Kahlo, Joe McGee and Pilar Acevedo join in celebrating the inspirational force of Frida's art and life. As independent creators they look upon the world of today with fresh eyes, their very own eyes. However they have been spurred by the exhibition to abide for a moment within Frida's spirit of inquiry, and perhaps to reflect more intently and more imaginatively on their selves and their circumstances.

Joe McGee - "Frida Is Jealous of Her Own Necklace", Mixed Media on Foamcore, 28 x 23 inches, 2014

"En el Espiritu de Frida," Swanson Contemporary, 638 E. Market St., Nov. 21-Jan. 3: On July 13, 1954, artist Frida Kahlo died at age 47 after living a pain-filled life, in part because of injuries from a bus accident as a teenager, but also one of defiance.

Kahlo, a woman and artist, was outspoken in her support of marginalized people in her own culture of Mexico and beyond. Her work and life have inspired other artists, and Louisville artist Joe McGee counts himself among them, calling himself one of the "cult of Frida."

In honor of the 60th anniversary of her death, McGee has put together an exhibit of Kahlo-inspired work by four other artists and himself. They include the Kentucky-based Diane Kahlo, a distant cousin and an artist in her own right, who has painted nearly 100 portraits for "Wall of Memories: Las Desaparecidas de Ciudad Juarez" ("The Missing Women of Juarez"), which pays tribute to women killed or kidnapped in the border area with Texas.

Photographer Mari Mujica, who has produced works directly related to Kahlo's transgender impersonators in Mexico City, has new 3-D work for the show.

McGee said he invited Pilar Acevedo, a Mexico City native and accomplished artist now living near Chicago, to participate, as he found her work reminiscent of Khalo's.

Also included is Louisville artist Jacque Parsley.

All written materials for the show will be in English and Spanish.