Art Of The Day Weekly

#519 - from 14 June 2018 to 20 June 2018


Frida on the bench, 1939, photograph by Nickolas Muray © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives

IN THE AIR

Frida, coquettish all the way

LONDON – Everything that has to do with Frida Kahlo loses its status of daily object to become a mystique object. There is a lot of money at stake, but that is not the only reason. A few months ago the family was at odds all because of a Barbie doll– could one play like that with an iconic figure? In the idolization of the universe of the Mexican artist, the turn today is her wardrobe, exhibited as if they were almost religious relics. We see the huipiles (the colored blouses from the region of Oaxaca) which she loved so, satin skirts, and her makeup. What has the greatest impact, of course, are the marks of her suffering (she suffered from polio in her early years and was then the victim of a tram accident, in which she was fractures by a steel bar that penetrated her body): her corsets painted with a fantastic vegetation, or her artificial leg, which she decorated with a bright red bootie. This choice combines perfectly the current speech on equality: why should people with a handicap not be as coquettish as their fellow humans?
Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up at the Victoria & Albert Museum, from 16 June to 4 November 2018.

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