With Kahlo Exhibit, City Catches Unibrow Fever
February 19, 2008 –
Excitement surrounding the Philadelphia Museum of Art's new Frida Kahlo exhibition, opening tomorrow, has caused many in the city to catch "unibrow fever"–with art lovers of all stripes using makeup, face-paint, and pasted-on hair to form their own Kahlo-esque unibrows. "She's by far my favorite artist," UArts student Stephanie Dreyer, 21, said yesterday as she smeared brown Halloween paint between her eyebrows. "And when people see my unibrow, they'll realize how psyched I am for the show."
 "It's the first American Kahlo retrospective in over a decade, with more than forty of her most searing works–including The Broken Column and The Two Kahlos," said Philadelphia Inquirer culture critic Stephan Salisbury, creating his unibrow with thick black grease-paint. "I wouldn't do this for just any old exhibit, you know." Mallory Thane, 44, who owns Old City's Seraph Gallery, agreed. "Her work is so important to me, both as a woman and as someone who seeks out artistic truth," she said, pointing to her newly-applied unibrow. "That's why I hot-glued my husband's beard-shavings onto my head."
Area art lovers with naturally-occurring unibrows were even more enthused. "It's like, finally, this thing doesn't seem so freakish," said Pearl Art & Crafts clerk Lee Kwan, 26, tracing his six-inch-long eyebrow with his fingertips. "Honestly, I've been waiting a long time for this moment." Still, the majority of Kahlo fans seemed more than happy to apply their own. "It's like when you go to an Eagles game, you paint your face green," said Dreyer. "If you're going to the Frida show, you put on a unibrow. I might even have to draw on a little mustache, too. I'm that excited!"
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