Naples art institutions seem to have an affinity for the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave. And why wouldn't they? The artist creates stunningly beautiful and realistic works made of paper.
Back in 2019, I heard about a de Borchgrave exhibit at Artis-Naples the day before it closed. I grabbed a friend and we hightailed it to Naples to catch the show. Papiers a la Mode was a romp through 300 years of fashion history, from the wardrobe of Queen Elizabeth I to the designs of Coco Chanel. An entire room was dedicated to the recreation of costumes from Les Ballet Russes. There are not enough superlatives to describe how much I loved that exhibit.
This time I had some advance notice of an exhibit of de Borchgrave's work hosted by the Naples Art Institute. The exhibit focused on the life of Frida Kahlo and included paper reproductions of both Frida's clothing and her environments. My friend Judy is a huge Frida fan so I corralled her and Stephenie and we headed south. It was once again well worth the drive.
The entrance to the exhibit featured the only somber note of the show, Frida in her wheelchair. Although there's no depiction of Frida's head, I felt like she was sitting right in front of me as I looked at this reminder of the accident that impacted the rest of her life. Just 18, Frida was on a bus heading home from a school in Mexico City where she was doing her preparatory studies to become a doctor. The bus turned a corner and crashed into an electric streetcar. Everyone on the bus was injured, none more seriously than Frida who was impaled by a steel rod. She was bedridden for months in a full body cast, and it was during that time that she began painting, both to pass the time and to deal with her emotions. Frida even painted the metallic corset she wore to support her broken body. She eventually graduated to plaster corsets, which she painted as well. To see images of some of these intimate works, click
here.
The severe injuries from the bus accident affected Frida for the rest of her life. But they weren't the first time young Frida had dealt with physical adversity. She had polio as a child, and the disease's impact plagued her. Kahlo's right leg was amputated when she was in her mid-40s due to gangrene. It's no surprise that much of her art contained themes of pain and adversity. Still, Frida was known for her colorful attire and surroundings, which de Borchgrave captured beautifully in this exhibit.
When de Borchgrave visited Frida's Casa Azul in Mexico, she was instantly inspired to depict Frida's world. It was filled with life and color and joy. "I wanted to tell Frida's story in a different way," de Borchgrave has said. "She suffered so much but transcended her pain with her joie de vivre, her cheerfulness, her love of men and women, and her way of life especially. She was very unique, and her fashion was inspired by the dresses and fabrics from every region of Mexico. All of this resonated with me, as I am a big lover of fabrics." The dress above features Oaxacan embroidery. Frida's mother was from this region of Mexico and she often wore this style of clothing in honor of her mother and the peasant women who made these elaborate -- yet humble -- dresses.
De Borchgrave got out her sketchpad and got to work. Tucked away in a corner of the entrance to the gallery was a book that could be viewed with the assistance of a staff member. Stephenie knew it would be something special and asked to see it. The pages contained some of de Borchgraves' preliminary drawings for the show and fabrics she might want to recreate. What a treat to get a sense of how her work begins.
But it was the final product that brought us to Naples. Our tour guide explained a bit about de Borchgrave's process. For this exhibit, the works were primarily made from butcher block paper. The clothing designs were cut out and placed on mannequins where de Borchgrave painted her replicas. Presumably some sort of support was also used for the creation of the objects in the show. While de Borchgrave has a studio of artists working with her, she does all of the painting herself. Once painted, the paper is washed, ironed and crumpled until it magically takes on the look of fabric or whatever other material it represents. It's a wonderful form of trompe l'oeil.
What made this exhibit unique to de Borchgrave's work was the creation of Frida's surroundings. No vignette was more special than Frida in her studio surrounded by some of the objects that were important to her. You might notice a small red spider monkey on the bookcase. Frida loved animals, particularly her spider monkey Fulang Chang. And so the exhibit included some of these creatures who were so dear to Frida.
When looking at this slice of the exhibit in particular, I had to be reminded that every item was made of paper. Let me reiterate. Every object shown here -- from Frida's paint-splattered pants to the furniture to the pottery to the pastels -- are made from paper. It is truly mindboggling.
Needless to say, it was a great art outing. For some more professional images of the exhibit, click
here. And for more on de Borchgrave's background and her
Papiers a la Mode exhibit, click
here and
here. If you ever get the opportunity to see a de Borchgrave exhibit, don't miss it. You won't believe your eyes.
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