Frida, festivals and New York

There’s a special exhibit at NTC Liberty station, The Complete Frida Kahlo which includes 123 of Kahlo’s most known paintings. Most exhibitions are only allowed to show a maximum of 40 original paintings. Presented by Global Entertainment Properties 1, LLC, (GEP1) they’re able to show her full range of work because they commissioned four experienced Chinese artists to create exact replicas due to the fact that some of her work is not allowed to leave her Blue House in Mexico, are privately owned and/or scattered around the world. In addition to her artwork there are more than 500 identical possessions such as jewelry and dresses that Frida wore also displayed. The dresses are even displayed to her height so one can see how small she was. There are also photos of her, her family, friends and lovers. The work didn’t stop there; they also recreated Kahlo’s studio where she painted and her signature canopy bed to size and detail.

It really takes you on an intimate journey of Kahlo’s life. Through her paintings, her love of husband Diego seems to be almost torturous as he had numerous affairs through their marriage and even contemplated leaving her for famous Mexican actress (and Frida’s “good” friend), Maria Felix. She eventually forgave them and reunited with Diego. She also had her share of male and female lovers but expressed in many of her paintings that she knew she was stuck with Diego. Although her work stands on its own she was often referred to as Mrs. Diego proving that talent cannot always trump sexism. It’s an amazing journey that we highly recommend seeing before it’s too late. The exhibit runs through Jan. 19, 2014. thecompletefrida.com

San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival

The San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival is one of the largest in the nation displaying some of the best culinary talents that San Diego has to offer along with an international showcase of wines, spirits and beers. We went to a Master Sommelier Blind Tasting featuring Master Sommelier Joe Spellman. Everyone sat at a table with eight wines and a sheet that broke down the process of how wines are graded. The appearance alone can tell a lot about a wine such as its age, cellaring conditions, method of vinification and where it’s from. We also went over smell and of course, taste. We will certainly never drink wine the same again!

The festival closed out with its Grand Tasting Event at Embarcadero Marina Park North. There was live entertainment, 200 winery, brewery & spirit purveyors, 70 of San Diego’s top chefs, a Chef of the Fest Competition and cookbook author signings throughout. They weren’t kidding when they said it was a “Grand” Tasting. We were stuffed after only going half way through. If you missed it make sure to join their mailing list for future events: sandiegowineclassic.com

Hello New York!

We flew to New York to surprise family for Thanksgiving and boy do we miss San Diego weather. We took an overnight flight and the 20-degree weather that met us at the airport woke us up. So far, we’ve visited the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum located on 89th Street and Fifth Avenue across the street from Central Park. The rotunda was filled with three decades of work by Christopher Wool, on display until Jan. 22, 2014. We also saw a digital installation that explored urban design and trends, Participatory City: 100 Urban Trends from the BMW Guggenheim Lab that will be there until Jan. 5, 2014. The ongoing exhibitions included paintings from the last 11 years of Kandinsky’s life and a collection bequeathed to the museum by art dealer and collector Justin K. Thannhauser that includes work by Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh. The building itself is a work of art that opened to the public Oct. 21, 1959 and was immediately recognized as an architectural landmark. Frank Lloyd Wright had initially planned for a ten-story tower behind the smaller rotunda that never came to fruition due to financial issues. He never got to receive the acclaim for his masterpiece since the opening was six months after his death. guggenheim.org