I’ve always enjoyed Frida Kahlo’s work. There is something about the directness of her paintings, the intensity of the gaze and the way she turned her own life, body and identity into subject matter that continues to feel so powerful.
So I was interested to visit Frida: The Making of an Icon at Tate Modern.
I found the exhibition interesting, but also a little sparse. I think I was hoping to see more of Frida’s paintings. Instead, much of the exhibition explores the way her image and ideas have been interpreted by other artists and transformed into the cultural icon we recognise today.
And actually, this was one of the things I enjoyed most.
It was fascinating to see the different ways artists have responded to Frida — what they have taken from her imagery, her identity and her visual language, and then made their own.
There is something particularly interesting about seeing how an artist’s work continues to evolve through other people’s interpretations long after they are gone.
But I still left wanting more Frida herself.
For me, the paintings remain the most compelling part of her story. Beneath the flowers, jewellery, animals and instantly recognisable image is a remarkably direct and intimate painter.
Perhaps that is the strange price of becoming an icon: sometimes the image becomes bigger than the work.
I enjoyed the exhibition, and I loved seeing the different interpretations of Frida’s legacy. But I came away wanting to return to the paintings themselves — and to see Frida, rather than simply the icon she became.