Dark Hallway No Place For Sassy Photos

Things are winding down at the Tampa Museum of Art as it prepares for a temporary move to Centro Espanol de West Tampa, pending construction of its new home in Curtis Hixon Park.

But the impending move is no reason to let standards slip, as the museum did in presenting its Arte 2007 exhibit: Frida Kahlo: Images of an Icon.

The exhibit showcases 60 photographs of the late Mexican painter who became famous for her marriage to muralist Diego Rivera, but later became a force in her own right. Many of Kahlo's colorful self-portraits express the pain she endured during her marriage and from a trolley-car accident early in life. Her popularity has grown, partly because of a biographical movie starring Salma Hayek.

Problem is, Tampa's art museum chose to hang about 20 featured photographs in a darkened hallway - past the elevator and the business office. On Sunday, two key pieces had no illumination. Two staff members were made aware of the burned-out light, but neither made an effort to have it replaced.

Neither did the exhibit tell the stories behind the photographs. In one image, for example, Frida defiantly stands in front of the Rockefeller Center mural that her husband painted in 1932. The piece became controversial because Rivera, a member of the Communist Party, painted Russia's Vladimir Lenin into it. John D. Rockefeller asked Rivera to remove the image and when the artist refused, Rockefeller paid his fee and had the mural destroyed.

The exhibit says nothing about the famous standoff, however.

Frida is a show that should have created a buzz about Tampa's art museum. The exhibit includes striking black-and-white images, and several vibrant color photographs well worth seeing. But the overall presentation leaves art lovers frustrated by the museum's failure to set and maintain high standards.

Some good museum news, though, came during the region's celebration of Latino arts, called Arte 2007.

Board members decided to make a temporary home in Centro Espanol de West Tampa. They had hoped to move to the Tampa Convention Center, but the $700,000 cost of retrofitting the site became prohibitive. Centro Espanol will need modest changes, costing about $150,000, to accommodate the museum's galleries and offices.

The art museum will do well in this historic Latin neighborhood - if it keeps its standards up.