Frida Kahlo is having a cultural renaissance. She died in 1954, yet the Mexican artist is everywhere.
At Halloween, she is a regular at parties – her dark brows, coral lips and electric
style have been doing the rounds since Beyoncé nailed it in 2014. Kahlo has been spray-painted on to walls in Shoreditch, her work litters Instagram, and Theresa May even wears a bracelet with the artist’s face on it.
There’s no doubt the world is having a “Kahlo Moment”; and that’s even before mentioning the V&A’s major exhibition of her clothing and personal
possessions, opening in June.
P.L. Henderson, an artist and art historian, says Kahlo is still so popular because she was ahead of her time. “She was a liberated woman before that was acceptable. She was feisty and independent, despite her health problems and disability, and she was bisexual and had many affairs.”
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Today the female gaze is on the rise in the visual arts, but Kahlo was a pioneer before the term even existed. “Her artwork was created in a time of early psychology and her introspection is a fascinating and rare exploration of womanhood from the perspective of a female, rather than portraying the clichés of the male artist. She covered work that many women can empathise with, such as the pain of her divorce, her husband’s infidelity and the
loss of her unborn child.”
Diana Villegas “fell in love” with Kahlo while studying art at school. “As I am Mexican, I started researching Mexican artists and Frida was someone I identified with right away. Her art spoke to me because of how personal it was. She was unapologetic and for me that was something that I could look up to.”
‘Frida Kahlo’s Wardrobe’ opens at the V&A on 16th June 2018.
‘Frida Kahlo’s Wardrobe’ exhibition opens at the V&A’s in June 2018, photograph: CC
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Frida Kahlo’s art lives on years after her death, photograph: CC