Houston, Texas – A new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston is inviting visitors learn how Frida Kahlo became one of the most recognizable artists in the world.
“Frida: The Making of an Icon,” on view through May 17, is the result of four years of research and collaboration. Assistant Curator in Latin American & Latino Art, Cindy Peña says the show is unlike a traditional retrospective.
“This is a very unique exhibition, it’s bringing different artists into conversation with her work and thinking about what she inspired, what came after Frida was already gone and what we have created with her today,” Peña said.
The exhibit features more than 30 original works by Kahlo (a rare opportunity to see so many in one place) alongside more than 120 works by international artists from the 1970s to today. The goal is to show not only the artist, but the legacy she built through radical honesty about her life, identity, and experiences.
“We can all connect to different aspects of her — Frida the painter, the wife, the Mexican woman,” Peña said. “People are able to connect.”
Kahlo was known for turning her personal pain, physical struggles, and cultural heritage into powerful visual statements. That openness helped shape her lasting influence, especially among Chicano artists.
“Here in Houston and in Texas we do celebrate difference and we do celebrate immigrants and communities,” Peña added. “It’s something our public can identify with.”
One section of the exhibition, titled “Frida Mania,” explores the explosion of Kahlo’s image in popular culture.
“We are examining closely this phenomenon of Frida Mania,” said Dr. Arden Weaver, director of Latin American and Latino art curation at MFAH. The term, she explained, describes the surge in Kahlo’s popularity in film, fashion, and the commercial marketplace beginning in the 1990s.
But that popularity comes with contradictions.
“We have to remember that Frida’s own politics: she identified with the communist party, she was anti-capitalist,” Weaver said. “So, it’s kind of a contradiction in some ways she’s come to circulate as this product.”
The exhibit also highlights what some call the “sanctification” of Kahlo through handmade objects and folk art created by artists and artisans who see her as a deeply personal symbol of strength and cultural pride.
MFAH’s long-standing commitment to Latin American art plays a key role in the show, including sections devoted to Chicano and Chicana artists and their connection to Kahlo’s legacy.
“To see that connection evolving into today is something really special,” Weaver said. “It’s reflective of our community here in Houston.”
“Frida: The Making of an Icon” runs through May 17 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Other upcoming Frida events at MFAH:
Drop-in Tour | “Frida: The Making of an Icon”, Wednesday, February 4, 1:30 p.m. Frida: The Making of an Icon is devoted to the life and legacy of Frida Kahlo. The fascinating exhibition features works of art not only by the legendary Mexican artist but also by artists she inspired. Practically unknown to mainstream audiences during her lifetime (1907–1954), Kahlo has been enshrined since the mid-1970s as the only female artist whose instant audience recognition and mass appeal rival those of male artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol. Caroline Wiess Law Building, 1001 Bissonnet Street
Frida, Friday, February 6, 7 p.m.
Directed by Julie Taymor
(2002, 123 minutes, English)
Brown Auditorium Theater, 35mm
Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayak) was able to channel the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage to Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina) into her art. Directed by Julie Taymor, this film explores Kahlo’s complex and enduring relationship with Rivera, illicit and controversial affair with Leon Trotsky, and provocative and romantic entanglements with women. Another screening Saturday, February 7 at 7 pm