How Frida Kahlo Became This Year's Cultural Obsession

Bausor leaned into this imagery when also developing an exhibition space for Frida and Diego: The Last Dream at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera. Artworks by both Kahlo and Rivera, who were romantically linked from 1928 until Kahlo’s death in 1954, bridge the theatrical and the visual. Kahlo was known for her colorful dress and bold pre-Columbian jewelry that drew attention away from her physical disabilities. Rivera used spectacle as a political instrument in his large-scale murals. Each understood art as a space for memory, tradition, and self-expression.

A more comprehensive survey of Kahlo’s life and afterlife is presented through Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon, an exhibition that premiered at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston this January and will make its way to Tate Modern in London next month. It traces the artist’s transformation from a relatively unknown painter during her lifetime into a global brand whose commercial reach now rivals that of Vincent van Gogh or Andy Warhol. 30 of her works are shown alongside more than 200 pieces by her contemporaries and those she influenced. A separate gallery examines the hundreds of commercial objects that now bear her face, style, and persona to ask: What does it take to become an icon?

Smaller offerings have also cropped up. The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia recently closed Frida Kahlo Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray, which included about 50 photographs taken by her long-time friend and lover. The showing was displayed in Rome before travelling to the United States. A movie produced by Exhibition on Screen called Frida Kahlo is in select cinemas across North America and Europe this May. A combination of expert interviews and cinematic shots of Kahlo’s art, the film was first released in 2020, but has been brushed off for a second run.

Kahlo’s chronic struggle with physical pain and the emotional turmoil that came with her romantic relationships make her feel distinctly human, and thus, deeply relatable. The bright dream-like imagery she has become synonymous with is not unlike the quasi-science fiction world many now find themselves within. Her complexity is part of what makes her compelling, because very little is straightforward in life itself. The institutions celebrating Kahlo this year have made a strong case for why she still matters and will continue to for years to come.