The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has opened the exhibition 'Frida and Diego: The Last Dream,' a collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera tied to its upcoming production of the opera 'El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego.' The show, designed by stage and costume designer Jon Bausor, transplants theatrical elements like a tree-of-life set model and blue tarp drapes into the gallery, alongside a reshuffling of key Kahlo and Rivera works from MoMA's collection.
The exhibition is critiqued as a clumsy marketing exercise that misrepresents the artists' relationship. While the theatrical staging creates some dramatic moments, the review argues it creates a false impression of political alignment between Kahlo and Rivera and ultimately serves more to promote the opera than to offer fresh insight into the artists, reducing a complex artistic legacy to a photo-friendly spectacle.