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"Frida Kahlo: In her own image" at Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria Australia
15 March 2025 | 13 July 2025A large number of the featured artworks and items are have never been seen in Australia before. In fact, after Diego Rivera made sure that the site would become a museum following Kahlo's death in 1954 and that her most private belongings were kept hidden in the bathrooms, some were sealed for fifty years in her family home, La Casa Azul.
Through her colorful outfits, smashing makeup and accessories, and elaborately adorned protheses, Kahlo created an intriguing public persona that addressed historical political concerns, her own identity as a cultural and social construct, and her own body.
"Frida Kahlo: In her own image" highlights the parallel conversations between the artist's clothes and styling, her photographic performance, and her drawings and paintings, which include her well-known self-portraits.
From Australian Art Reviews:
Highlights of "Frida Kahlo: In her own image" include:
- Traditional regional Mexican garments worn by Kahlo, including a spectacular resplandor, a pleated white headdress which frames the face, worn by Tehuana women of Oaxaca region.
- A collection of Kahlo’s favourite Revlon cosmetics, including eyebrow pencil, blush, nail polishes, and lipstick, used by the artist to dramatise and accentuate her features.
- Medical corsets worn after spinal surgeries following a devastating traffic accident, which have been delicately hand-painted and embellished by Kahlo, including one painted with a broken Tuscan column representing her spine.
- A self-portrait drawing titled Appearances Can be Deceiving, depicting an x-ray view through Kahlo’s clothing to her corset and injured body underneath.
Circe Henestrosa, a fashion curator and the head of the school of fashion at LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore, conceptualized and organized the exhibition. Gannit Ankori, PhD, served as an advisor, and Henry and Lois Foster, the director and chief curator of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, provided guidance. The managing curator for the show in Australia is Lauren Ellis, Curatorial Manager at Bendigo Art Gallery.
For logistic info follow the exhibition website below.
17/06/2025 In partnership with Bendigo Art Gallery, Broadsheet Melbourne spoke with curatorial manager Lauren Ellis about Kahlo’s image and legacy. Click here for the interview.
