Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1522887
M exican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) ranks among the 20th century's most iconic artists — one whose fame approaches Andy Warhol's. Her work mirrored her mythic life, as she reveled in her country's rich cultural heritage and transformed personal pain into unforgettable feminist images that are misunderstood. In a letter to her lover, photographer Nickolas Muray, she wrote: "They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality." See Muray's compelling color images of Kahlo, paired with black-and- white portraits by her contemporary and friend Lucienne Bloch, in a rare exhibition at PDNB Gallery, organized in tandem with the Bloch and Muray archives. Celebrate the artist at Frida's Birthday Party, Saturday, July 6, 3 to 5 pm, at the gallery. "Portraits of Frida by Lucienne Bloch and Nickolas Muray" through August 17, at PDNB Gallery, pdnbgallery.com. Catherine D. Anspon Above: Nickolas Muray's Frida on White Bench, New York, 1939, at PDNB Gallery. Courtesy the Nickolas Muray Archive and PDNB Gallery, Dallas. I n 2 0 2 2 , P i e r r e F r e y acquired the boutique screen- printing company Thorp of London, a deal that helped save this specialized craft from disappearing in England and preserved Thorp's legacy. Founded by avant-garde designer Bernard Thorp in 1971, Thorp of London screen-prints wallpapers and fabrics by hand in small batches; some of Thorp's designs were based on 18th-century drawings, others were created in collaboration with legendary English decorators John Fowler and David Hicks. Many of these original designs can still be found in the Thorp of London archives, and today the company offers some 100 different made-to- order patterns in 460 customizable shades, mixed specially for each Thorp of London Frida Fêted Lives On job using pigment-rich inks. Thorp is now retired, but his screen-printing techniques live on at a workshop in Norfolk run by artisan Robert Hamlin-Wright and his team of two silk-screeners. Hamlin-Wright has retained the company's historic manufacturing methods and expanded fabric options to include cotton, linen, jute, silk, moiré, velvet, suede, paper, and non-wovens. Thorp of London, at Culp Associates, Dallas Design Center, 1025 N. Stemmons Freeway, culpassociates.com. Rebecca Sherman From left: Thorp of London Bupa wallpaper. A craftsman working in Thorp's England studio. Parisienne fabric. JON DAY EVA NEMETH JON DAY 36