As Claire Wilcox, co-curator of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up enthuses, the late Mexican painter indisputably remains one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. 



Her expansive oeuvre – encompassing oil paintings 'Self-Portrait with Monkey and Parrot', 'Self-Portrait as a Tehuana' and 'My Nurse and I' – and her idiosyncratic approach to style have remained a point of fascination for over 50 years since her premature death. In amalgamating the two via a new and much-anticipated exhibition, the Victoria & Albert Museum grants us access to the full picture, offering a fresh perspective on Frida Kahlo’s life and loves.



Some 200 personal artefacts, from the ‘ebony’ eyebrow pencil that accentuated the artist’s iconic unibrow, to an orthopedic plaster corset, her prosthetic leg complete with embroidered silk boot, and culturally significant garments like her intricately detailed Guatemalan cotton coat have been released from the Blue House in Mexico – where she lived and died – to be reunited with her art.

Listen as Claire introduces us to the exhibition – and clear a couple of hours to fully immerse yourself in the world of Frida. 



Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up runs from 16 June until 4 November 2018 at The Victoria & Albert Museum, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL.

In case you missed it, watch Orla Kiely explain her retrospective exhibition at the Textile Museum.