Organized in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the exhibition features over 130 pieces, including paintings, drawings, photographs, personal documents and artifacts from Kahlo’s archives. The exhibition aims to unveil Frida’s “many selves” - the wife, the political activist, the intellectual, and the modern artist. It will feature works by over 80 artists influenced by Kahlo, set against the backdrop of global “Fridamania,” with more than 200 merchandise items on display. As curator Mari Carmen Ramírez explains, the aim is to separate Frida Kahlo the artist from Frida Kahlo the phenomenon, showing how her image was continuously reinterpreted by artists and activists to engage contemporary issues. The Tate presentation follows its debut in Houston (January-May 2026), emphasizing the dialogue between her work and its critical and popular resonance. Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954) is renowned for her intense, autobiographical self-portraits, born from deep physical suffering and rooted in her Mexican identity. Only in the late 20th century did she rise to global prominence thanks to feminist, Chicano, and LGBTQ+ movements and curatorial efforts starting in the late 1970s. Her status as a cultural phenomenon - “Fridamania” - has seen her image reproduced across mass-market products, from t-shirts to magnets, generating criticism for the commodification of her legacy. The Tate Modern retrospective promises to be a major international event: a chance to engage with Kahlo’s complex life and artistic journey, to celebrate her pioneering role as a woman artist and icon of cultural diversity in the 20th century.
.jpg/jcr%3Acontent)
