Düsseldorf, 8 November 2022: Miradas de Mujeres (Women's Glances) is the title of a beautiful exhibition at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels that highlights Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave's view of Frida Kahlo. It is a dialogue between two women who never met because one was born shortly before the other died. But both women share an extraordinary love of fabrics, patterns and colours, a sense of beauty and aesthetics; a female perspective on the role of the artist in society. It is a twist of fate that both works are now united in a joint exhibition. The special thing is: the total work of art is made entirely of paper and it is probably something that has never been seen before.

Isabelle de Borchgrave is one of the best-known Belgian artists. It took her almost three years to create Miradas de Mujeres, a hand-painted work consisting of more than 4 kilometres of paper and cardboard. She created clothes, carpets, furniture, trees and other elements to recreate the universe of Frida Kahlo and her iconic house, Casa Azul (The Blue House). Now visitors can stroll through the living room, the studio, the kitchen, the dressing room and the garden for a trompe l'oeil experience of Frida Kahlo's world.

In Isabelle de Borchgrave's opinion, the huge world around Frida Kahlo has a lot of commercial references, which she wanted to distance herself from. She deliberately focused on beauty and the joy of life in her exhibition.

Isabelle de Borchgrave herself first worked with textiles and then turned to paper because it gives her the greatest freedom. Read in the interview how these artistic paper creations of dreams came about. The exhibition itself can be found in Brussels at 

Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels

Miradas de Mujeres

Isabelle de Borchgrave X Frida Kahlo

14.10.2022 12.02.2023

Rue du Musée 9 / Museumstraat 9 - 1000 Brussels

https://www.fine-arts-museum.be/

Click here for the interview and many photos

Alethea Magazine: What fascinates you personally about Frida Kahlo and why did you choose this title for the exhibition? 

Isabelle de Borchgrave: I chose the title because I wanted it to be an exchange. I went to her house, I had dinner there, and I wanted to invite her and tell about her house in my house. I am fascinated by Mexico, her house, this woman who transcended suffering by showing her femininity, her joy, she met many people, actors, artists, she was part of this world. This woman, even when she was young, did not dress like the others of her time, she plunged into popular art to dress herself. She looked for petticoats, fabrics and ribbons and adapted them to her desires. It was her reality and she created her own identity. As a great lover of fabric, I was fascinated by the fabrics of the markets in Mexico City, and the story began. I wanted to talk about her without the pain, because the mercantile side of the Frida Mania does not appeal to me at all. Her way of life, her taste for the house, entertaining, doing her hair... she had a huge personality.

Alethea Magazine: What influence do you think she had on art and fashion?

Isabelle de Borchgrave: If you google her, she is in the top ten most important artists in the world. All the fashion designers have made collections inspired by her, from Kenzo to Dior, JP Gauthier. They have all plunged for a moment into her colourful, simple and inventive world. It's very tempting. 

Alethea Magazine: What kind of artworks can we look forward to at Miradas de Mujeres?

Isabelle de Borchgrave: The paper work that nobody has ever done. Everything is made of paper. Paper gives lightness and brings much more dream. Unlike the work of the big houses, there is emotion, it is a huge story of work behind it, a whole studio that makes each piece with the trompe-l'oeil, the effects that we give to the paper. It's also a story of observation, of playing with the multiplication of colours, effects and embroidery, that's what gives it its beauty.

Alethea Magazine: I read about you that you have also designed fabrics for fashion designers. How is it that you then decided to work with paper as a medium?

Isabelle de Borchgrave: I started to make dresses in painted fabric, but to avoid clients and the loss of my artistic soul I preferred paper dresses. Paper gave me an extraordinary freedom.

Alethea Magazine: What was it like to work with the big design houses of the world, like Hermes? 

Isabelle de Borchgrave: It's an extremely demanding job, but you learn a lot from everything you do. Getting close to the big houses is always so inspiring. The windows are commissioned as artist's windows. A freedom in the imagination, it's like an artist's installation, you tell a story, you have to start from something real and take people into the dream.

Alethea Magazine: How do you artistically process the paper and how do you preserve the artworks? 

Isabelle de Borchgrave: I crumple it up, I paint it, I iron it, I wet it, I dry it to achieve an almost real fabric effect, an embroidery, a fabric that has been washed 100 times... the trompe l'oeil is very important. The 40 dresses of Frida are all very different. The paper is not affected by anything except humidity, they are protected by cardboard boxes, then they are placed in wooden crates and they have been travelling around the world for more than 30 years.

Alethea Magazine: Do you use special papers?

Isabelle de Borchgrave: The most democratic paper in the world. A simple white paper. The colour thicknesses give the effect to the piece or object.

Alethea Magazine: How do you find the inspiration for your artworks?

Isabelle de Borchgrave: Through travel, reading, and observation.

Alethea Magazine: How did your journey into art begin? 

Isabelle de Borchgrave: I have always been interested in art, I see a lot of museums, I have always been interested in painting and fashion.

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Find out more:

isabelledeborchgrave.com

Art Calendar / interview, 8. November 2022

Miradas de Mujeres, Isabelle de Borchgrave X Frida Kahlo. Papier der Träume und der Freiheit. Ein exclusives Interview mit einer der bekanntesten belgischen Künstlerinnen, Isabelle de Borchgrave, die über 3 Jahre lang eine Ausstellung aus Papier schuf, die bislang einzigartig ist. Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brüssel. 14.Oktober 2022 bis 12.Februar 2023.

Isabelle de Borchgrave

Décor / Decor / Decor - 2020

Technique mixte sur papier / Gemengde techniek op papier / Mixed media on paper

© Courtesy of the artist - Photo/Foto: Jean-Pierre GABRIEL

Düsseldorf, 8. November 2022: Miradas de Mujeres (Frauenblicke) ist der Titel einer wunderschönen Ausstellung in den Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brüssel, die die Sicht der belgischen Künstlerin Isabelle de Borchgrave auf Frida Kahlo beleuchtet. Es ist ein Dialog zwischen zwei Frauen, der nie stattgefunden hat, weil sie sich nie begegnet sind, denn die eine wurde kurz vor dem Tod der anderen geboren. Aber beide Frauen teilen eine außergewöhnliche Liebe zu Stoffen, Mustern und Farben, einen Sinn für Schönheit und Ästhetik; eine weibliche Perspektive auf die Rolle der Künstlerin in der Gesellschaft. Es ist eine Wende des Schicksals, dass beide Werke nun in einer gemeinsamen Ausstellung vereint sind. Das Besondere ist: Das Gesamtkunstwerk ist vollständig aus Papier gemacht und es ist wohl etwas, dass man so noch nie gesehen hat.

Isabelle de Borchgrave gehört zu den bekanntesten belgischen Künstlerinnen. Sie hat fast drei Jahre gebraucht, um Miradas de Mujeres zu schaffen, ein von Hand gemaltes Werk, bestehend aus mehr als 4 Kilometern Papier und Pappe. Sie schuf Kleider, Teppiche, Möbel, Bäume und andere Elemente, um das Universum von Frida Kahlo und ihrem ikonischen Haus, der Casa Azul (Das blaue Haus), nachzubilden. Nun können die Besucher durch das Wohnzimmer, das Atelier, die Küche, das Ankleidezimmer und den Garten schlendern, und ein Trompe-l'oeil-Erlebnis der Welt Frida Kahlos erleben.

Die riesige Welt rund um Frida Kahlo hat nach Meinung von Isabelle de Borchgrave viel kommerzielle Bezüge, wovon sie sich distanzieren wollte. Ganz bewusst fokussierte sie sich in ihrer Ausstellung auf das Schöne und die Lebensfreude.

Isabelle de Borchgrave selbst arbeitete zunächst mit Textilien und wandte sich dann Papier zu, weil es ihr die größte Freiheit gibt. Lesen Sie im Interview, wie es zu diesen kunstvollen Papierkreationen der Träume gekommen ist. Die Ausstellung selbst finden Sie in Brüssel in 

Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brüssel

Miradas de Mujeres

Isabelle de Borchgrave X Frida Kahlo

14.10.2022 12.02.2023

Rue du Musée 9 / Museumstraat 9 - 1000 Brussels

fine-arts-museum.be

Hier gehts zum Interview und vielen Fotos:

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