Standing nose to nose with Frida Kahlo's "Self Portrait with Necklace" ("Autorretrato con Collar") at the new Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, you feel her presence.
The glimmer of light in her brown eyes, the fine hair around her ears and the delicate lace along her collar bring her to life on the walls of the third floor. You almost expect to smell her cigarette breath.
Seeing the 1933 work in person, viewers notice she spelled her name "Frieda," as opposed to the less German "Frida" she used later in life. A devout communist, she dropped the "e" after the rise of Nazism.
Alexia Bratiotis of the museum's communications department called seeing Kahlo's works unpacked after long hours of preparing the exhibit "reinvigorating."
Two of her best-known works, "Self-Portrait with Monkeys" and "Diego on My Mind," are included. They blend traditional Mexican motifs and surrealism in her distinct, symbolic self-examinations.
Diego Rivera, one of the most important muralists of the last century time, is represented by the bold "Calla Lily Vendor," derived from one of his 1920s mural projects; and his early experiment with cubism, "òltima Hora."
But Kahlo's and Rivera's works are just part of the 20th century Mexican art collection at the museum's premiere exhibition, opening Saturday. Called "Diego Rivera and Twentieth-Century Mexican Art: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," the exhibition also features works by Jose Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo, Gunther Gerzso, Mar'a Izquierdo, Carlos Merida, Cisco Jimenez, Gabriel Orozco and Paula Santiago, dating from 1910s to the '90s. The Nevada Museum of Art is the last American venue to present the collection before it travels to Asia.
The show is sponsored by the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority and organized by the Vergel Foundation in New York, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes and Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes.
Coming from Chicago, the show runs from Saturday through Sept. 21. Kahlo's paintings will be shown only through June 29.
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The museum at 160 W. Liberty St. is an impressive venue for the show.
Described by its architect, Will Bruder, as a "curved, twisting, torquing form," the museum was designed to be mysterious yet inviting.
"People will have an opinion about this building," he said. "We hope the leagues will approve, but what's important is a dialogue in the community."
Mario Lopez, of Sunshine Cleaning Services, was polishing windows last week as part of the final touches for the five-year project.
"It's good," he said of the big, black structure.
From a series of randomly placed skylights Bruder says will "constantly modulate and manipulate the light from dawn to dusk" to a white chamber on the roof from which you can see a distant Mount Rose, the building was designed as a compass.
"This building is very much about sculpting perspectives and perceptions," Bruder said.
He said he hopes the building itself will provide an artistic experience to complement that of the gallery.
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IF YOU GO
What: Grand opening of the Nevada Museum of Art featuring "Diego Rivera and Twentieth-Century Mexican Art: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection"
Where: 160 W. Liberty St. In Reno
When: Saturday. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Thursdays to 8 p.m.
Cost: Free Saturday, otherwise, $7 adults, $5 students/seniors, $1 children 6-12 and free to NMA members.
Call: 329-3333