The original selfie queen is being celebrated in London.
Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who is known for her surreal self-portraits and colourful style, is the focus of a new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where her personal artefacts can be seen outside Mexico for the first time.
Since her death in 1954, Frida’s belongings had been kept in her family home, The Blue House in Mexico City (now a museum), where she was born, grew up, and eventually died.
Frida has been hailed as a feminist and LGBTQ icon and an advocate of Mexican culture. The V&A exhibition, Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up will give visitors a look at her life through over 200 objects comprising her wardrobe, jewellery, makeup, photographs, and letters, as well as some of her most famous artworks.
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Some of the items are testimony to her own physical struggles, adding a heartbreaking twist to the inspirational exhibition.
At the age of 18, Frida was nearly killed in a bus accident. The plaster corset she had worn and decorated herself is on display alongside other items like the prosthetic leg she wore after having her right leg amputated towards the end of her life. Her clothes, many of which are representative of indigenous Mexican traditions, and makeup (she was a Revlon girl through and through) are also highlights you won’t want to miss. You’ll see the very eyebrow pencil Frida used to accentuate her famous unibrow.
Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up is on at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London from now until Sunday, 4 November 2018. Entry is £15.
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