Reflections, curated by ART 300 Critical Theory

Gift of John Andrew MacMahon '95


True to form, An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo features Yasumasa Morimura’s signature style of self-portrait. In this piece, Morimura has mimicked a painting in the style of the renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) by inserting his own face over her figure. Drawing from Kahlo’s style of powerful emotionality, Morimura utilizes the themes that he recognizes in her work, including, he says, “joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, beauty, life, and love.” An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo combines aspects of Morimura’s personal identity and Japanese-influenced artistic techniques with that of Kahlo’s distinct portraiture style, merging different emotions and self-expressions into one piece. By way of Kahlo, Morimura depicts his own perspective and character while paying homage to the acclaimed artist.

Van Every/Smith Galleries Blog:
NEW ACQUISITION: AN INNER DIALOGUE WITH FRIDA KAHLO by KaiKai Wang ‘24

Dr. Ann Fox’s “Disability in Literature & Art” class wrote and recorded image descriptions of some of the works in the Van Every/Smith collection. Here three students give a description of the work through their perspectives: Isabella Perry ‘25 and and Hannah Casey ‘26.