London, at Tate Modern, the exhibition that tells Frida Kahlo

You know the face, the flowers in your hair, the monochild. You probably saw his face on a shirt, bag, cup or magnet. There is even a Barbie by Frida Kahlo. And it's quite absurd if we think we're talking about a dead painter in 1954.

This is exactly the point from which Frida: The Making of an Icon, the exhibition at the Tate Modern that tries to tell not only the artist, but everything that happened to his image after her.

For the first time in the United Kingdom after more than twenty years, more than 30 Kahlo works are exhibited together, including some rarely visible portraits, along with photographs, clothes and personal objects.

But it's not just an exhibition on Frida Kahlo. The interesting thing is to understand how a woman who for a long time has not even been known outside certain artistic environments has become Frida Kahlo with capital letters. And to understand it, you have to start with her.

Frida used herself in her art in a way that today seems almost normal, but that normal was not at all. The body, disability, its Mexican identity, politics, sexuality, way of dressing. Everything could become part of a painting.

In his self-portraits he could have short hair, wear male clothes, show the baffets instead of hiding them. And while today we are used to seeing artists transform their image into part of their work, Frida did it almost a century ago. He was “gender Fluid”, he was feminist, he was political. A great Woman was overcome

Then there is surrealism. Frida didn't want to be called surrealist. André Breton, one of the most important names of the movement, called it a “surrealist born alone”. In 1938, after his first solo exhibition in New York, the invitation came to exhibit in Paris and France purchased The Frame for its national collection.

But perhaps the most fascinating thing about Frida Kahlo's history is that a huge part of her fame came later.

In the 1960s, the American Chicano movement began to consider it a symbol of cultural pride and political resistance. Then came the feminist movements of the 1970s and 1980s, which rediscovered a woman who decades before had already painted the female body, childbirth, sexuality and identity without trying to make them easier or more beautiful for those who looked. And that's where I think the show is really interesting.

Because every generation seems to have taken a piece of Frida and turned it into something of its own.

Until we get to the Frida we know today. The one on the shirts.

The last part of the exhibition is dedicated to the “Fridamania” and collects more than 200 objects born from the marketing of its image. There are clothes, perfumes, tequila, Barbie and practically anything on which it was possible to print her face. And it is a beautiful contradiction to observe.

A woman who has become a symbol of identity, politics, feminism and resistance has also become a product to buy in the gift shop. Perhaps this is the most interesting question that leaves Frida: The Making of an Icon.

When a person becomes such a great icon, how much remains of the original person? And above all, behind all those flowers, those shirts and those cups, do we still know Frida Kahlo?

Frida: The Making of an Icon is at the Tate Modern in London until 3 January 2027.