The Ridgefield Playhouse To Screen 'Frida – Viva La Vida'

Ridgefield CT

12 January, 2021

11:00 AM

Description

Press release from The Ridgefield Playhouse: Jan. 10, 2021 If the winter months have you wanting to travel the world and explore museums, The Ridgefield Playhouse and RPAC Art Gallery Great Art on Film Series have partnered to bring the museums to you through film! Back by popular demand, take a fascinating journey through the works, places and personal possession of artist and icon Frida Kahlo with Frida: Viva La Vida on Saturday, January 30 at 4:30pm and 7:30pm. Asia Argento leads our journey, taking us to the heart of Kahlo's Mexican homeland. With exclusive interviews, documents and reconstructions, we discover the two sides of Frida Kahlo's spirit: on one side the revolutionary, pioneering artist of contemporary feminism and on the other, the human being, victim of her tortured body and a tormented relationship. The film unflinchingly explores her passionate and destructive relationship with fellow artist and husband Diego Rivera. "I feel very close to her because I too was the victim of a patriarchal system, which tends to silence and shut down women," states Argento, the Italian actress who was a major figure in the #MeToo movement as one of the first to openly accuse film producer, Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. The film emphasizes Kahlo's courage and rebellion against a misogynistic system that sees women only as objects of desire. Kahlo endured polio as a child, but it was a bus crash, when she was 18 years old, that changed her life's trajectory forever. Her painting grew out of her suffering. Confined to bed for months, Kahlo learned to paint by studying her own reflection in a mirror suspended above her. The colors of her paintings reflect the "colors" of her pain and the colors of Mexico. Directed by Giovanni Troli and narrated by Asia Argento, the film looks at the two sides of Frida Kahlo's life – one of suffering giving rise to independence and strength. The other a sensitivity and artistry that expressed a love of life and change. Renaissance man Sandro Botticelli, is best known for masterpieces "The Birth of Venus" and "Primavera." He was celebrated during his lifetime and is considered a key figure in the Western art tradition. Florence in the era of the powerhouse Italian statesman, politician and patron Lorenzo de' Medici, was the heart of Renaissance art and culture, but it was Botticelli, above all others, who was able to evoke the lights and shadows of this unforgettable era. In Botticelli's Florence and the Medici on Thursday, February 11 at 7pm, we relive Florence and all its art workshops through Botticelli's life, his collaborations, his challenges and successes. From the outset of his career under the wing of the Medici family, Botticelli established himself as the inventor of an ideal beauty, seen in works such as The Allegory of Spring and the Birth of Venus. The death of Lorenzo de Medici marked the downward spiral of the Florentine master, who was destined to be forgotten for over three centuries, but the rediscovery of Botticelli by the Pre-Raphaelites re-ignited a genuine fascination with the artist and sparked a Botticelli-mania which continues to this day. Mark your calendars for Secret Impressionists on Thursday, March 11 at 7pm. Fifty unseen masterpieces will be unveiled for the first time: Manet, Caillebotte, Renoir, Monet, Ceìzanne, Signac, Sisley and Berthe Morisot. Join us on a cinematic journey to discover the art revolution caused by the Impressionist movement through fifty paintings that are now on display in Rome at Palazzo Bonaparte. How did the Impressionists view the world? How did they go from being rejected by critics and the public to becoming, in just a few short years, some of the best loved works of art in the whole world? The two curators of the exhibition, Claire Durand-Ruel (the great-great-granddaughter of Paul Durand-Ruel, the most important Impressionists' art dealer) and Marianne Mathieu, will accompany audiences along a complex and intriguing path. The series is also part of the Cohen and Wolf, P.C. Movie Series. For more information or to purchase touchless print at home ticket ($12.50) go online at www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org or, you can visit or call the box office (203) 438-5795. The Playhouse is currently doing socially distanced, limited capacity seating. Concession/bar can be ordered via our mobile site so that you can pick it up on the way in, or get notified when it is ready for you to pick up once in the theater. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT and is committed to keeping the arts alive and available to all. This press release was produced by The Ridgefield Playhouse. The views expressed here are the author's own.