This Saturday night, August 2nd, SFMOMA is joining The Mission Arts & Performance Project (MAPP) in a street-level, neighborhood arts extravaganza celebrating the work and life of Frida Kahlo.

During the early years of the SFMOMA, and the reign of founding director Grace McCann Morley, museum forays into the city were the rule rather than the exception; I have to say I’m very excited this is happening again now. If you’re not already familiar with the MAPP, it’s a lively bimonthly neighborhood arts and cultural event that transforms garages, backyards, studios, gardens, and local businesses into make-shift arts and performance spaces, “where daily life meets artistic innovation and expression.” An international collaboration of over 60 artists, MAPP events take place the first Saturday of every month in the Mission, beginning with family art activities (painting, circus, storytelling, music) during the day, followed by a full evening of exhibitions and performances.

This weekend’s MAPP has a special Frida Kahlo focus & an SFMOMA collaborative aspect: the museum is presenting two artist projects as part of the night’s events:

Violeta Luna, Embedded Frida: Procession and performance through the MAPP circuit; musical accompaniment by David Molina with John Ingle. Building on a long-standing performance piece, Violeta Luna’s Embedded Frida moves the now-archetypal Kahlo figure through the streets of the Mission. At various stations, Frida will leave her sickbed/palenque to enact the conflicting histories-of gender, nationality, modernity, and Mexicanidad-that she has come to represent. The procession will start at the Brava Theater at 9 p.m., with performance stops at New Door Ventures and the Red Poppy Art House along the way.

ALSO!!
René Yañez’s Pasión por Frida: Frida Kahlo Lookalike Model Search
Galería de la Raza, 2851 24th Street, 5:30 p.m.

Rene Yanez and his Frida Look-alikes c. 1992

For more information about all the events scheduled on August 2, visit the MAPP site, or stop by the Red Poppy Art House (2698 Folsom Street at 23rd) on the day of the event to pick up a map of event locations.In the spirit of the tableaux he created for the Mexican Museum’s 1992 exhibition Pasión por Frida Yañez will enlist four to five models over the age of 18 to enact Frida Kahlo paintings or moments in the artist’s life. These living scenes will be presented at SFMOMA on Sunday, September 28, the closing day of the museum’s Frida Kahlo exhibition. Auditions at Galería de la Raza will be conducted in the order of arrival, starting at 5:30p.m. Please come dressed as Frida Kahlo, already costumed and with makeup.

Free! and open to the public
Family Mapp: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
MAPP special project “Frida Was Here”: 7 p.m. to midnight