Frida Kahlo cult
The story of my website | Links about Frida Kahlo cult and Fridamania
|
|
Since 1996 I've been dedicating a lot of my time to Frida Kahlo: since the beginning I wanted to make a website to spread the knowledge of this extraordinary woman. Even if she lived in the first half of the past century I found she was an icon of our time and a forerunner of a lot of current tendencies. So I decided to buy and read all the books I could find about her in Italy and abroad and I was struck by the extraordinary modernity of her works that could be read in the light of some of the most recent philosophic theories. Since then I have been updating my website also with everything concerning Frida (exhibitions, books) and her influence on today's artistic world (theatre, dance, cinema, painting, poetry). As far as sources are concerned, I publish news coming from worldwide newspapers, reviews and press agencies. |
Miscellanea - Links about Frida Kahlo cult
Frida Kahlo, Global Brand, Might Just Be The Artist Of Our Time "The peculiarities of "Fridamania" provide the leitmotif of 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', a sprawling exhibition organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on view at Tate Modern, London, from 25 June 2026 to 04 January 2026". The article argues that the fact that Frida Kahlo represents different meanings to different people does not diminish her artistic value. Although some may interpret this multiplicity as opportunism or superficiality, her extraordinary expressive ability allowed her to integrate multiple aspects of her own identity and the human condition into her work. For this reason, her art is not limited to exploring identity but transcends it, revealing the complexity and diversity present in every individual. It is precisely this ability to unite people through the recognition of diversity that makes her work both innovative and remarkably relevant today. by Jonathon Keats, June 29, 2026
The Commodification of Frida Kahlo, Katie Tobin writes about 'Frida: The Making of an Icon' exhibition.
Eat Frida food off a Frida plate: Kahlo kitsch raises eyebrows "What would the Mexican artist have made of all the merch accompanying a new exhibition? She’d probably have loved it, says her biographer... Kahlo’s biographer Herrera suspects the late artist would not mind all the associated products now being sold, and might even have been amused. “A lot of her life was about getting attention,” she has said. “She would have probably used the word “cursi”, which is a Spanish word for corny.”
Article by Vanessa Thorpe, The Observer - 3 May 2026
What Would Frida Kahlo Think of Her Own ‘Fridamania’? The transformation of Frida Kahlo from a relatively obscure Mexican painter to a ubiquitous global brand remains one of the most significant shifts in modern cultural history. While her canvases explore themes of chronic pain, radical politics, and indigenous identity, her likeness now adorns everything from high-end fashion to disposable consumer goods. This editorial investigation explores how the artist's identity was distilled into a commercial asset.
Podcast by The Times - 12 Apr 2026
Why we can’t get enough of Frida Kahlo. Monobrows aside… unplucking the pervasive image of Frida Kahlo, by Gina Fairley, Artshub, 5/11/2025
Made in Mexico: Beyond the myth of Frida Kahlo "As an art historian, the case of Frida Kahlo troubles me. With her image cartooned and printed onto mugs, tote bags, makeup sets, candles, notebooks, and toys I am troubled by what she has become. And yet, I am proud that she has become a global reference point and, in many ways, the emblem of Mexican identity.
To me, she is not a T-shirt, a figurine stamped “Made in China,” or a kitschy mash-up of her portrait and Day of the Dead imagery. She is a complex, sophisticated artist who has been exoticized, over interpreted, poorly explained and too often stripped of the world in which she lived." by María Meléndez, Mexico News Daily,
Part 1 September 10,2025
Part 2 September 17,2025
"Far beyond the art world, the Mexican painter endures as a blueprint for being your own muse." Why Frida Kahlo Remains a Timeless Beauty Icon. by Ella Cerón, ELLE, Hearst Digital Media, Sep 15, 2025
"Frida isn’t just a name in art history; she’s a living, breathing brand. And long before influencers and hashtags, she mastered self-presentation, identity, and visibility in a way that resonates exactly with how we experience celebrity culture today." Frida Kahlo was the original influencer even before influencing was a thing.
Times of India, 6 July 2025.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of Frida Kahlo’s death. The defiant, boundary-breaking artist inspired generations of creatives and propelled Mexican art into the spotlight. But sometimes it seems like her greatest legacy is the merchantability of her face - and those eyebrows. Tote bags, facemasks, jigsaw puzzles: Is there anything that hasn’t had Frida Kahlo’s face on it? by Rebecca Ann Hughes, 4 August 2024, Yahoo News UK
Frida Kahlo's iconic self-portraits often highlighted her pain and physical struggles. Frida Kahlo: Mexico’s Iconic Disabled Painter by Sofía Aguilar, HipLatina, July 24, 2024
Mirror Images: Disabled Writers on Frida Kahlo. Jess Libow explores how disabled writers have taken up Frida Kahlo’s image and legacy by Jess Libow, Los Angeles Review of Books, July 15, 2024
Frida Kahlo had no religious affiliation. Why, then, did the Mexican artist depict several religious symbols in the paintings she produced until her death on July 13, 1954? On Anniversary Of Frida Kahlo’s Death, Her Art’s Spirituality Keeps Fans Engaged Around The Globe by By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ, Associated Press, July 13, 2024
Frida as LGBQT icon in the article "10 lessons from Frida Kahlo that the world needs more than ever before" by Denny, Reckon Media, July 05, 2024
Cristina Kahlo: "They have turned Frida into a brand" by Luis Carlos Sánchez, Heraldo, USA, 12 June, 2024
Frida Kahlo: la gran ocultadora. Le controversie di un'artista idolatrata da ormai settant'anni di Franco Fanelli, Il giornale dell'Arte, Feb. 18, 2024 (in Italian)
The Frida Kahlo Effect: Why the Mexican Artist Is Still a Pop-Cultural Icon Today by Karen Chernick, ARTnews, Jan. 17, 2024
Reckoning with Icons: Frida Kahlo and Cultural Appropriation, by Diana Ochoa-Chavez, Harvard Political Review, Jan. 6, 2024
The 5 Faces of Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo is a cultural icon of modern and contemporary art, standing as a testament to women's resiliency, patriotism, and bravery in the face of hardship and pain. by Diana Oliveira, MA English, BA English Literature, The Collector, Aug, 15, 2023
The Frida Effect: What happened when Dior chose Frida Kahlo as its latest muse? A bona-fide fashion moment was born, says Anna Pursglove – one so seismic that you might want to start growing your monobrow by ANNA PURSGLOVE FOR YOU MAGAZINE, DailyMail, UK, Jun. 9, 2023
Who could have guessed in 1954 that Frida would be an international superstar of pop culture? by Stephen Kessler, Santa Cruz Sentinel April 23, 2023
Would Frida Kahlo approve of her immersive experience exhibit? "In turning a display of such a revolutionary, status-quo-defying artist into an Instagrammable moment, she is reduced to a facsimile." by Amil Iazi, The Globe and Mail, Apr. 8, 2022
The Commodification Of Frida Kahlo: The Artist Beneath The Image On Cushions And Tote Bags. Frida Kahlo has been exoticised and commodified on merchandise and other products without any attention to her life, art or politics. Feminism in India, Nov. 24, 2021
4 Colorful Storytelling Truths From Frida Kahlo. Forbes' contributor Goldie Chan highlights 4 storytelling truths that can be learned from the life and work of Frida Kahlo. Sept. 16, 2021
Frida Kahlo and the Fetishization of ‘Indigenism,’ a Lingering Question. Yamily Habib talking about the myth of Frida' s image and the construction of "indigenismo". BELatina, August 5, 2021
An Indigenous Perspective on Frida Kahlo. In both her art and personal style Kahlo promoted the construction of a mythologized Indianness at the expense of Indigenous people. - Joanna Garcia Cheran, Hyperallergic, July 4, 2021
How Frida Kahlo Broke Stereotypes And Shaped Feminism - Gargi Agrawal - ELLE India, July 6, 2021
Frida Folk, by Gaby Franger. Here’s another book about Frida Kahlo, and this one doesn’t feature even a single original painting. The ways in which she is repeatedly re-labeled and re-invented is unprecedented in the world of art. Is this global appropriation of Frida as an icon— Fridamania—just commercial kitsch? 2019
Stoking Frida-mania: A new exhibition reveals how Frida Kahlo crafted her identity - Michael Glover, The Independent, 11 June 2018
How Frida Kahlo Became a Global Brand - Tess Thackara, Artsy, 19 December 2017
Frida Kahlo: why we can't look away from the world's first selfie superstar - Brigid Delaney, The Guardian , July 2016
Frida Kahlo Is Having a Moment - Guy Trebay, The New York Times, May 8, 2015
Made in Her Image: Frida Kahlo as Material Culture. Lis Pankl and Kevin Blake. Fall 2012.
This article examines how Kahlo's development and influences from early 20th-century Mexico City played crucial roles in her personas as artist and celebrity and demonstrates how Kahlo's appropriation and production of material culture began even in her own lifetime and continues to multiply at an astonishing pace.
The Trouble with Frida Kahlo - Stephanie Mencimer, Washington Monthly, June 2002
_____________________________________________________
6/07/2013: 106th anniversary of Frida's birth
Check out this link, watch the video!
_____________________________________________________
2007: the centenary of Frida's birth
BBC Mundo dedicated a very interesting special section to Frida, including a video of the Frida Kahlo Museum. Go to BBC Mundo site
Events
June 3rd, 2007 - Mexico City commemorates the 100th anniversary of Frida birth.
The 100th birthday of Frida will be honoured with the largest-ever exhibit of her paintings by the Museum of the Fine Arts Palace in Mexico, named "Frida Kahlo, 1907-2007: homenaje nacional". "The 354 pieces will be the largest exposition of Frida Kahlo," director of the National Fine Arts Institute Teresa Franco told reporters. It will also be Kahlo's first comprehensive exhibit in Mexico, she said: After Mexico proclaimed Rivera paintings to be national cultural heritage, foreign owners feared lending her work to Mexico. Besides one-third of her artistic production, manuscripts and 50 letters that have not been displayed previously, she said. Works are on loan from Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Nayoga, Japan.
"It is important for our visitors to know that Frida wrote, thought, challenged the Americans . . . here they will see the complete Frida," Bellas Artes Director Roxana Gonzalez said.
The most recent international exhibition of Kahlo's work was in 2005 by the Tate Modern in London, which brought together 87 works.
June 13 - August 19
Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes
open 10:30 am to 6:30 pm Tuesday through Saturday.
See the photogallery of the event
To mark the anniversary, the Blue House, Kahlo's Mexico City family home-turned-museum, will display nearly 300 pieces of clothing found more than two ago in a trunk in an unused bathroom.
_____________________________________________________
"Frida Kahlo: Public Image, Private Life. A Selection of Photographs and Letters" on view at The National Museum of Women in the Arts
Celebrating Kahlo’s 100th birthday, the exhibition includes the museum’s prized possession, Kahlo’s Self-portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky, 23 photographs of Kahlo by various artists, 10 of Kahlo’s unpublished personal letters to family and friends from The Nelleke Nix and Marianne Huber Collection: The Frida Kahlo Papers and 12 never-before-seen photographs of Kahlo’s private bathroom at the Casa Azul. Among the photographs will be a new collection of images by Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide of Kahlo’s private bathroom at the Casa Azul and its contents, which were sealed until fifty years after her death. The combination of these materials will provide a stimulating context for exploring the relationship between Frida’s colorful, mexicanista image and the difficult realities of her personal life.
This exhibition was presented in partnership with the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Mexican Cultural Institute. 1250 New York Avenue, N.W. - Washington, DC
July 6, 2007 - October 14, 2007
_____________________________________________________
A big exposition of Frida's paintings at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis
The Walker Art Center recently announced that it's teaming up with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to present "Frida Kahlo," a collection of Frida's paintings, to mark the centennial of her birth. The exhibit — curated by art historian Hayden Herrera and the Walker's Elizabeth Carpenter — will make its debut at the Walker on Oct. 27, running through Jan. 20, 2008, before moving on to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
October 27 January 20, 2008, Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403
_____________________________________________________
"Cada quien su Frida" by Ofelia Medina
The famous actress Ofelia Medina played the role of Frida Kahlo in Paul Leduc's major film, “Frida, Naturaleza Viva”.
 “Cada quien su Frida” an Ofelia Medina's creation played in the "House of the Indio Fernández" in Mexico City up to the 15th April 2007 |
|
| Mexico City - February 2007
“Cada quien su Frida” is the most recent Ofelia Medina's creation in which she combines pieces of the unique Mexican painter diary, her letters and writings, with some scenes described in the Lolo de la Torrente's book “Memoria y Razón de Diego Rivera”, fused with the favourite songs of Frida Kahlo. Humour and irony, inherent signs to both artists, are possessed inside this oniric musical show.  The company is integrated by talented young actresses that characterize different periods from the painter like Youth Frida, the one' who believes and is absolutely alive, represented by Teresa Ruiz. Dead Frida is ironic and with a sharp sense of humour, wonderfully characterized by Miriam Balderas. Besides them is the Tina Modotti's character, Italian, communist and photographer represented by Francesca Guillén as the younger Tina, and by Giovanna Cavasola as the older one. Both actresses have a huge formal career in performing arts. Dayana Tellerías represents the very close friend and Frida's nurse; Judith, the Cuban woman who was also absolutely compromised with communism as lots of intellectual people during that time.Ambiental live music is a collage between cello and percussion, especially composed for this play by Jimena Giménez Cacho, extraordinary cellist with an amazing sensibility and talent. Natalia Perez Turner, who is also a brilliant cellist, shares the Morfina's character with Gimenez Cacho stirring it with her own twist. We also include popular Mexican music directed and performed by Ángel Chacón in the companion of Mauricio Díaz “el Hueso” and Kátsika Mayoral. Together they recreate Frida's parties' atmosphere with a traditional and pleasant repertory from different authors of the time. Scenography is made up by Carmen Parra, Mexican scenographer and painter. Production is in charge of Begoña Lecumberri. Between reality and memory; the conjunction of time, past and present together, are always fooling around inside Frida's brain… |
|
_____________________________________________________
"Frida - mi vida" by Renate Reichert
100 variations on Frida Kahlo's painting "The Two Fridas" by the German artist Renate Reichert was exhibited in Berlin in 2007,as a gift for Frida's centenary.From May 24th to July 8th at the Haus am Kleistpark.
_____________________________________________________
Frida by Race and Rhythm
Race and Rhythm is a Performing Arts Company based in London. Their last piece, Frida, is a 20 mins piece that represents a collage of the life and work of the Mexican artist. The piece was showed at The Place Theatre having excellent audience feedback and reviews. As a celebration on Frida's Centenary the piece is going to be extended to a 70mins. The piece includes both original and traditional music, live singing, colorful costumes, and 10 international performers in a Contemporary work inspired by Frida Kahlo live and work and Flamenco, Classical Spanish, Argentinean Tango, Mexican Folk and Hip Hop dance movement vocabulary combined with projections and a simple but effective scenography. Both the 20mins piece or the 70 mins show will be available for touring from April to December 2007.
_____________________________________________________
"Frida K." by Gloria Monterofont
Critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning solo show starring Allegra Fulton. First presented in Toronto, Canada, and after an international tour remounted at the National Arts Centre of Canada Jan 9- Jan 29th 2007 and continues to play in major theatres in both Canada and the US, as well as productions in theatres internationally.
_____________________________________________________
"Frida, un rétablo"
written by Dañel Malán and directed by Olga Sanchez will stay from 12th to 20th January at El Centro Milagro and will tour through November 2007. In this exciting new reworking of "FRIDA, un retablo", two Frida’s will take the stage in the portrayal, Dañel Malán as the older Frida and Maya Malán-Gonzalez as the younger. Omar Vargas returns in his role of Diego Rivera. Matthew Preston will play several roles, which includes Leon Trotsky, André Breton and Julian Levy. Direction and dramaturgy is by Olga Sanchez, musical composition by Art Viloria and Milagro’s signature mural was designed and painted by Tomas Rivero.Milagro Theatre, Portland
_____________________________________________________
"Frida" by Robert Xavier Rodriguez
Celebration of Mexico, a multimedia musical fiesta, will close the Dallas classical concert season on April 28. Robert Xavier Rodriguez conducts a concert suite from his acclaimed chamber opera, Frida, based on the tempestuous life of painter Frida Kahlo. The concert will also include Copland's popular El Salon Mexico and music by Revueltas and others. Guest soprano Alba Quezada will join pianist Jeff Lankov and the Musica Nova ensemble.
The University Theatre of Dallas University, Saturday, April 28, 2007, 8:00 p.m.
_____________________________________________________
"Casa Blue: The Last Moments in the Life of Frida Kahlo"
Marking the Centennial of the birth of Frida Kahlo. By Jeremy Childs, Karen Garcia, and Todd Olson
"I hope the leaving is joyful - and I hope never to return"
–last entry in the journal of Frida Kahlo, July, 1953
“Frida Kahlo’s art was like a ribbon…wrapped around a bomb.” –Andre Breton
Mexico’s most famous painter comes to life…and death. As the world marks the centennial of her birth, we celebrate the most famous painter to come from Mexico, Frida Kahlo. Victim of a tragic streetcar accident as a teenager, Frida was emblematic of the idea that out of pain can come positive energy. She championed the indigenous culture of her country in a style combining realism and surrealism, and her steamy romance (and two marriages) with painter Diego Rivera has been called one of the greatest, if not most unusual, love affairs of all time. Though physically fragile, Frida was a tough-talking woman who smoked and drank, and had affairs with men and women, including one with Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. She was a person who had a huge appetite for life, and her legacy and body of work remain sensual and alive, more popular now 50 years after her death.
