Why Did Frida Kahlo Become an Icon?

Part One

My introduction to Frida came through an arts lecture given by a Kahlo authority whose name I don’t remember. I was writing for a paper in a California college town and that was my feature assignment for the week.

The lecture included a slide show of Kahlo’s works. I was intrigued, mesmerized—at times startled—by her art. I loved the colors, her style, the woman (Frida) as center of the universe.

Two words described her—No fear.

And there was the Mexico connection—her flamboyant, indigenous clothing, her raven hair parted in the middle, pulled back in a tight bun or gloriously wild, the artsy jewelry. She appealed in all her gutsy wonder.

I was not alone. She appealed to everyone, though long had she lived in her husband’s shadow. By the 1970s Frida was breaking out and breaking the mold. She was becoming—dare I say it—as popular as her famous husband, muralist and revolutionary, Diego Rivera.

Presenting Frida

Frida became an icon because the world was finally ready for her.

A strong woman who stood equally alongside an alpha male, years his junior, but as powerful in her way as he was in his. Rivera had encouraged her and mentored her.

A star was born. Did she overshadow her husband? Who can determine which artist held more power? That so many Kahlo paintings were self-portraits symbolized a different spirit. She had been through hell and back (maybe never back), first suffering through polio as a youngster and at 18 being hideously injured in a trolley/bus collision in Mexico City.

After the accident, she wore a metal body brace her entire life. Her poor tortured frame would not allow her body to push out a baby and each time she got pregnant, not only did it not come to full term but her body suffered due to additional pressure on her lower torso. That did not stop her from portraying her suffering in her artwork for all the world to see. Suffering was the gateway to her art.

Frida as artist

Though she never carried a child full term, as artist, she pressed on. Years later in my bookstore in Puerto Morelos, her paintings hung front and center on the walls. My favorite was Frida in the jungle with the monkeys. Love you, Frida. You have been an icon for decades. Not only because of your oversized talent but also because of your staunch independence, your genius, your anarchistic politics, your free spirit, your shock value and your bravery. You resonated with a spirit that became a universal spirit. Thank you for the beauty and the pain you were not afraid to share. We love you Frida.

PART TWO: The Evolution of Frida, commemorates Kahlo’s upcoming birthday July 6 and will post next week. Hope you’ll join me!

If you hit the heart at the top of this email, you’ll make it easier for others to find this publication and make me very happy. Gracias.

Backstory—Puerto Morelos sits within 100 miles of four major pyramid sites: Chichen Itza, Coba, Tulum and Ek Balam. By living in close proximity to this Maya wonderland we pyramid hopped on our days off from Alma Libre Libros, the bookstore we founded in 1997. Owning a bookstore made it easy to order every possible book I could find on the Maya and their culture, the pyramids, the archeologists who dug at these sites and the scholars who wrote about them, not to mention meeting archeologists, tour guides, and local Maya who popped into the store. I became a self-taught Mayaphile and eventually website publishers, Mexican newspapers and magazines, even guidebooks asked me to write for them about the Maya and Mexico. I’ll never stop being enthralled by the culture and history and glad there’s always new news emerging for me to report on right here in Mexico Soul. Please share this post if you know others interested in the Maya. Thank you!