Oh Frida!

‘The many (marketable) faces of Frida Kahlo’ by Miranda France in Prospect (May 2018) made me stop and think about what I project onto this artist (“Kahlo can be what we want her to be: a feminist, wounded lover, cultural ambassador, survivor of disability, sexual adventurer. I can have my Frida; you can have yours”). I’m a bit of a fan-girl but possibly more because of her attitude than as a lover of her art and that doesn’t seem right. Madonna would apparently reject me as a friend for this very reason! I visited Kahlo’s home in Mexico City in the mid-90s and the experience stayed with me. Hoping the V&A exhibition will powerfully recreate it for me. Perhaps the title they’ve given the exhibition is why Kahlo generates so many responses. Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up.