Smile of Frida, 2025

Wawapod  

This mixed-media piece on canvas embodies the explosive encounter between two complementary urban universes, celebrating the iconic figure of Frida Kahlo through the lens of street art and pop culture.

At the heart of the work, Frida Kahlo's portrait emerges from a grid of white dots on a deep black background, recalling the aesthetic of pixel art or silkscreen printing à la Roy Lichtenstein. This halftone technique, a signature of Wawapod, transforms the face of the Mexican icon into an almost spectral apparition — the viewer must step back for her enigmatic smile to fully reveal itself, playing with perception. Golden cracks run across this dark background, evoking the Japanese philosophy of , where fractures become ornament.

The upper and lower sections unfold Lasveguix's signature world: a profusion of torn collages with raw edges, layering vintage posters, retro advertisements ("Philips Autoradio," "Meet the Girls from the Bureau"), childhood figures, and pop culture references. The word "AMOUR" bursts across a "HELLO MY NAME IS" sticker in the upper left, while the legendary The Who logo asserts itself at the bottom center — a rock nod to the rebellious energy that inhabited Frida.

Purple splashes, pink and red drips, and black stencil work energize the whole and unify the two visual registers. This tension between typographic order and spontaneous gesture, between collective memory and intimate icon, constitutes the strength of the piece.

dialogues with the legacy of Mimmo Rotella and the , while inscribing itself within the lineage of halftone portraits popularized by artists such as Jef Aérosol and Dain. Frida's smile — that of a woman who painted pain with fierce joy — becomes here the vanishing point of a world saturated with images, slogans, and nostalgia. A vibrant tribute where two artists' signatures meet in the lower right to seal this collaboration.