OPEN SPACE

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The Frida Kahlo was here/SFMOMA MAPP HAPPENING happened Saturday night in the Mission and was AWESOME, Frank Smigiel Public Programs Curator Person taking it to the streets we adore you. I’ll have a mini report-back and some pics up tomorrow; meanwhile some great pictures of Rene Yanez’s Kahlo lookalike audition, Violeta Luna’s performance, & other MAPP pics are cropping up on FLICKR.

In other morning news, it’s FREE TUESDAY today at the museum, notable not just because, er, Free, but because it’s a FREE TUESDAY in AUGUST during the run of the FRIDA KAHLO exhibition. Which means it’s going to be worth a run down to the museum just to see the crowds. (You still have to pay to see Frida. But it’s only $5. Instead of, um, uh…17.50.) Last Free Tuesday we broke attendance records with EIGHT THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE visitors. Today we’re expecting—let me say this as accurately & professionally as possible—WAY more than that. I’ll see if we can get some pictures or videos of the crowds.

On the subject of crowds: I’m agoraphobic in pretty much every other situation, but when it comes to museum galleries stuffed with people, weirdly, I’m exhilarated. I admit this isn’t always about the viewing of individual objects, which, it is true, can feel somewhat compromised when you have to elbow past or through. But ALL THOSE PEOPLE, looking at art. Together. In big air-conditioned rooms. It makes me feel giddy, and happy; freakishly, I love it. You can too. See you there.

This Saturday night, August 2nd, SFMOMA is joining The Mission Arts & Performance Project (MAPP) in a street-level, neighborhood arts extravaganza celebrating the work and life of Frida Kahlo.

During the early years of the SFMOMA, and the reign of founding director Grace McCann Morley, museum forays into the city were the rule rather than the exception; I have to say I’m very excited this is happening again now. If you’re not already familiar with the MAPP, it’s a lively bimonthly neighborhood arts and cultural event that transforms garages, backyards, studios, gardens, and local businesses into make-shift arts and performance spaces, “where daily life meets artistic innovation and expression.” An international collaboration of over 60 artists, MAPP events take place the first Saturday of every month in the Mission, beginning with family art activities (painting, circus, storytelling, music) during the day, followed by a full evening of exhibitions and performances.

This weekend’s MAPP has a special Frida Kahlo focus & an SFMOMA collaborative aspect: the museum is presenting two artist projects as part of the night’s events:

Violeta Luna, Embedded Frida: Procession and performance through the MAPP circuit; musical accompaniment by David Molina with John Ingle. Building on a long-standing performance piece, Violeta Luna’s Embedded Frida moves the now-archetypal Kahlo figure through the streets of the Mission. At various stations, Frida will leave her sickbed/palenque to enact the conflicting histories-of gender, nationality, modernity, and Mexicanidad-that she has come to represent. The procession will start at the Brava Theater at 9 p.m., with performance stops at New Door Ventures and the Red Poppy Art House along the way.

ALSO!!
René Yañez’s Pasión por Frida: Frida Kahlo Lookalike Model Search
Galería de la Raza, 2851 24th Street, 5:30 p.m.

Rene Yanez and his Frida Look-alikes c. 1992

In the spirit of the tableaux he created for the Mexican Museum’s 1992 exhibition Pasión por Frida Yañez will enlist four to five models over the age of 18 to enact Frida Kahlo paintings or moments in the artist’s life. These living scenes will be presented at SFMOMA on Sunday, September 28, the closing day of the museum’s Frida Kahlo exhibition. Auditions at Galería de la Raza will be conducted in the order of arrival, starting at 5:30p.m. Please come dressed as Frida Kahlo, already costumed and with makeup.

For more information about all the events scheduled on August 2, visit the MAPP site, or stop by the Red Poppy Art House (2698 Folsom Street at 23rd) on the day of the event to pick up a map of event locations.

Free! and open to the public
Family Mapp: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
MAPP special project “Frida Was Here”: 7 p.m. to midnight

This is Kris. He works in the guard booth. He’s learning Japanese. He’s awesome.

A sweet greeting at the SFMOMA guard station: