TRANSFORMER FRIDA KAHLO

Legacy Of Art + Influence

Header: Río Yañez, Ghetto Frida's Mission Memories 2009. © Río Yañez; Cover: Frida Kahlo, Untitled [Self-portrait with thorn necklace and hummingbird] 1940. Nickolas Muray Collection of Mexican Art

BY: Sunny Sunday

For the last few months, Frida Kahlo’s face began surfacing across billboards throughout London, her eminent features blossoming throughout Tube stations and across street-sides. In a landmark exhibition, and London’s first major interrogation of Kahlo’s legacy in 25 years, the Tate Modern surveys some of the most notable art pieces of the enigmatic Mexican artist in Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon.

Nickolas Muray Frida Kahlo on a White Bench, New York 1939, printed 2024 Museum of Fine Arts Houston, MFAH c Nickolas Muray Photo Archives
Nickolas Muray Frida Kahlo on a White Bench, New York 1939, printed 2024 Museum of Fine Arts Houston, MFAH c Nickolas Muray Photo Archives

 

Diego Rivera, Portrait of Frida Kahlo c.1935. Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Diego Rivera, Portrait of Frida Kahlo c.1935. Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The show explores Kahlo’s exceptional story of transformation as she developed into a behemoth figure — artistically, commercially, and culturally. The exhibition spotlights over 30 pieces of Kahlo’s artwork as well as more than 200 further pieces, including personal clothing items and jewelry pieces, archival materials from her contemporaries, and modern works from artists inspired by her legendary career.

Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait (With Velvet Dress) 1926. Private Collection
Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait (With Velvet Dress) 1926. Private Collection

 

Mary McCartney, Being Frida, London 2000. © Mary McCartney. Courtesy the artist
Mary McCartney, Being Frida, London 2000. © Mary McCartney. Courtesy the artist

All-encompassing and ubiquitous, the selection of pieces traces Kahlo’s multifaceted personhood as an activist, lover, and intellect. However, the exhibition keeps the painter at arm’s length. Rather than allowing for a deeper understanding of the artist on a personal level, The Making of an Icon pushes viewers outward. Here, visitors are propelled toward a wider understanding of her influence and the sweeping waves she formed throughout the greater contemporary art world.

Frida Kahlo, Self-portrait with Monkey, 1940. Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museum Trust
Frida Kahlo, Self-portrait with Monkey, 1940. Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museum Trust

 

Yasumasa Morimura, An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Hand Shaped Earring), 2001© Yasumasa Morimura; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York and Yoshiko Isshiki Office, Tokyo
Yasumasa Morimura, An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Hand Shaped Earring), 2001© Yasumasa Morimura; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York and Yoshiko Isshiki Office, Tokyo

Forever enveloped in swathes of mystique and myth, Kahlo’s work paints a journey of dreaming in deep pigments. Her dark hair, whether pinned up or let down loose, and her trained eyes evoke an unsettling and surreal reaction. Momentarily, her personal longings, Indigenous traditions, and ritualistic practices are perceptible within her emblematic self-portraits. The viewer is granted a fleeting conversation in which Kahlo communicates a raw and tumultuous internal landscape; however, more questions endure and her mysteries remain protected within the confines of her brushstrokes. Ultimately, an acknowledgment of her swaying effect is the heartbeat of the exhibition, a celebration of an artist long-remembered, revered, and recreated.

Frida Kahlo, Survivor 1938. Colección Pérez Simón
Frida Kahlo, Survivor 1938. Colección Pérez Simón

Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon is on view at the Tate Modern until January 3, 2027. For more information, visit their website here.

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