Inspired by Frida Kahlo

A feminist icon and pop culture star, Frida Kahlo decided at a very young age that she would not follow the traditional role of Mexican women in the society of her time. She always fought for her freedom, despite the many obstacles in her path. This major figure of Mexican art leaves behind her countless works, retracing her passions, her suffering, and 20th-century Mexico. But what does her art actually tell us?

In 1925, a serious bus accident turned her life upside down. Bedridden for months, Frida began to paint self-portraits. On this subject, she said, "I paint myself because I am often alone and because I am the subject I know best". Always stoic in her self-depictions, there is no need for tears or crying to make us empathize with the pain she endured. 

Shortly after her recovery, she met Diego Rivera, with whom she experienced a long passionate, and tortuous relationship. After her meeting with André Breton in 1938, she began exhibiting her paintings in New York. The following year, she went to Paris where she met Picasso and Kandinsky. This trip strengthened her affection for her home country; Mexico and its folklore became omnipresent themes in her paintings. Frida Kahlo died of pneumonia in 1954, leaving behind her a vast artistic legacy, an ode to her country, rendered in flamboyant colors and a multitude of exotic symbols. She rejected the label of a Surrealist painter, arguing "I never painted my dreams. I painted my reality".

Immerse yourself in our selection inspired by Frida Kahlo! Some contemporary painters align themselves with the Surrealists, such as Carlos Antonio Sablon Perez, Cícero Dias, Stefano Di Stasio, or Sean MacLeod. Others devote themselves to the practice of self-portraiture, whether through photography like Alexandra Mas and Dora Franco, painting like Pascale Garcin-Coquoin or drawing like Hanna Bakula. When not representing themselves, it is other women that female artists depict, as Frida did for the women in her entourage. Such is the case of Ghislaine Ferreira, Ruth Addinall, and Corinne Héraud. A feminist like Frida Kahlo, Niki de Saint Phalle has also created her own fantastic universe thanks to her Nanas for the reconquest of power. On the other hand, if Frida Kahlo embodies a feminist artist, she is also the one who best claims her "Mexicanity", which is what many Mexican artists will do, starting with Flor Mora, Pedro Friedeberg, Lottas, and Alfredo Vilchis Roque. But Mexican art is far from being limited to painting. Frida herself decorated other objects, first and foremost her corsets! In fact, some artists continue to produce of "alejebris", while others engage in the traditional practice of "cartonería" or terracotta ceramics. But Frida has also become a modern and international icon of pop culture! Numerous artists associated with pop art or street art have taken up her figure to make her the subject of their paintings. For example, Mohamed Kahouadji directly takes up the style of Andy Warhol's serigraphs. Others follow more the legacy of Basquiat instead, such as Spaco, Patricia Gadisseur, and Edu Danesi. Will you be able to resist the Frida phenomenon?