Rachel Colman
Sorry, But It’s Time To Be Honest About These Immersive Art Exhibits That Keep Popping Up In Dallas — They’re Not Worth It.
The Frida Kahlo Immersive Dream, or as we’re calling it, the Immersive Nightmare, is an art exhibit currently on display throughout the country including the hub of Dallas. Although, how can you not already know about the art exhibit with the endless stream of Instagram advertisements that seem to bombard your feed every few seconds?
Considering the amount of media coverage the Frida Kahlo exhibit has received, it would be tempting for the customer to assume that the exhibit will be an authentic experience that pays homage to Frida Kahlo’s Mexican culture. However, this assumption is just not reality.
For the minimum price of a $40 general admission ticket – there is a $15 upcharge for weekend availability as well as premium and VIP packages – the customer undergoes an approximately 40-minute insufficient and disorienting show featuring Frida Kahlo’s artwork projected onto walls in various rooms throughout the gallery.
SEE ALSO:DMA ATTEMPTS WORLD RECORD FOR MOST FRIDAS IN ONE PLACE.
Purchasing a general admission ticket only gets the patron in the door to observe, but the premier package gives the customer a cushion rental to sit down and a smelly “limited edition” poster (yes, we said smelly. For some inexplicable reason the poster smelled like rotting food.) There’s also the disappointing VIP package, which this writer unfortunately purchased, and the expense of over $100 did not meet expectations whatsoever. You receive the aforementioned rancid poster, a lanyard and the opportunity to keep the seat cushion that premier package customers are required to return.
The show itself is random, lacking a cohesive narrative or theme for Kahlo’s artwork. It is obvious by this disconnect that the orchestrators did not grasp the artist’s sublime and breath-taking art and were merely hoping a collage of her most famous artworks would compensate for their omission.
The host, Lighthouse Artspace of Dallas, promises to provide “mesmerizing, large-scale projections, accompanied by a ravishing musical score, that will sweep you up as you encounter Frida as never before,” yet the only element that sweeps up the customer is how nauseous they feel when the projections begin to quickly spin. Also, in a “ravishing” score to accompany Frida Kahlo’s work, perhaps Spanish music would have been more fitting than a cover of “Stand By Me” performed by Florence and The Machine.
Should anyone be hoping to learn more about Kahlo’s contribution to Mexican culture or how she influenced feminism ideology by attending this exhibit, think again, because there is no informational component to it. Hence, anyone planning to attend the exhibit should prepare themselves by conducting research on Kahlo beforehand to remotely comprehend the art display at all.
SEE ALSO: WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THESE VAN GOGH EXHIBITS IN DALLAS?
And Lighthouse Artspace of Dallas must be dedicated to Van Gogh, as there was certainly a lack of representation for Frida Kahlo in the gift shop that was practically devoted to leftover Van Gogh merchandise.
The Frida Kahlo Immersive Dream renders the customer to feel as if they contributed to a marketing ploy that is eager to bring people in without giving an accurate depiction of Kahlo’s work. Then again, earning a profit by appropriating Mexican culture is not anything we have not all seen before. So, save your money and time before booking these tickets, we promise there are cheaper photo ops for your Instagram.
Cover photo by Rachel Colman.