Unmasking Frida Kahlo at the AGO's Frida & Diego Show

Self-Portait with Monkeys by Frida Kahlo, 1943, oil on canvas.
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of Mexican Art (C) Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Frida Kahlo's iconic image, created with braided hair, thick eyebrows, colourful ethnic dress and bold accessories, was a carefully constructed persona that spoke to her passions for politics and her identity as an artist and as the wife of Diego Rivera. In effect, she constructed her identity through fashion.

Although fashion is not the subject of the Art Gallery of Ontario's exhibition called "Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting", Kahlo's colourful outfits, headdresses, ribbons, shawls, and accessories define many of her self-portraits. The exhibition makes no explicit mention of fashion, but Kahlo used clothing and accessories as identity construction and so my reading of the exhibition focused on the artifice of her dress.

Update on the Violation of Copyright

Dear Friends,

After discovering that much of my blog has been copied onto another blogspot site without permission, credit or attribution, I made the decision to temporarily suspend my posts. The experience made me feel violated and cut off from my readers. Figuring out how to report the problem to Google was a challenge in itself, and while the problem has not totally been rectified by The Blogger Team, I am going to resume my posts in a limited way.

Some people have suggested that I write an article on blogs and copyright. This is messy territory with little precedent to follow. I am grateful for the many emails and words of support that I've received from my friends around the world, and it has been that response that has inspired me to continue, albeit I have to admit that I am now somewhat reluctant to share my original research on this forum. But my love of art, fashion and museums compels me to go on.

This morning, I will be attending the press preview for the exciting show Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The AGO exhibition will overlap with the upcoming opening of the exhibition 'Appearances Can be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo" at Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City from November 22, 2012 to November 22, 2013. Kahlo had such a distinctive style and the exhibition explores the ways Kahlo used fashion as a language to address the issues of ethnicity and disability - aspects that are also visible in her paintings. I want to share that and the many other wonderful intersections of art and fashion that cross my path. 

You will notice that I am now adding a notice of copyright to each post. I suggest that you all do the same, and take care in attributing your sources of photos and information.

Ingrid Mida

Notice of copyright: 
All text and images on this blog are the copyright of Ingrid Mida, unless otherwise noted. The copying of posts, images and/or text without proper attribution is violation of copyright and legal action will be pursued.