Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up

Frida Kahlo (1907–1958) is an artist with a unique international appeal. Her instantly recognizable work draws extensively on her life and her extraordinarily personal reflections upon it.On Kahlo’s death, her husband Diego Rivera ordered that her most private possessions be locked away until fifteen years after his death. The bathroom in which her belongings were stored in fact remained unopened until 2004. Through this incredible archive, Frida Kahlo will give the reader a unique window into Kahlo’s life. It will focus on the personal, combining her prosthetics and clothes with self-portraits, diary entries and letters to build an intimate portrait of the artist through her possessions, setting this in the context of her political and social beliefs.

Short-listed for ACE Best Product Awards: Best Exhibition Catalogue 2018 (UK)

“Praise for V&A Exhibition Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up which accompanies this book: 'A room of her personal belongings, which had been sealed since her death, was opened, and its contents put on display at the Blue House -it is a real coup for the V&A to be able to borrow this collection.' Jess Cartner-Morley, The Guardian 'an extraordinary testimony to suffering and spirit' The Observer 'Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up is a larger version of theinaugural viewing of the Casa Azul stash that took place in Mexico City earlierthis year. It is intimate and epic in scale, the juxtapositioning of artworkswith the items that appear in them -- here some jewellery, there a headdress --compelling.' Anna Murphy, The Times 'Whatever your preconceptions aboutKahlo, it's hard to leave this show unimpressed by her huge resilience, andwithout feeling just a little in love with this extraordinary woman.' Mark Hudson, Daily Telegraph 'Claire Wilcox and Circe Henestrosa... have mastermindeda celebration of the artist's style.' Karen Dacre, Evening Standard 'The V&A has now put a generous selection of these intimate contents on show, amplifying them with films of her in action, more photographs, her jewellery, her costumes and a small but gripping array of her fiery self-portraits.' Waldemar Januszczak, Sunday Times Culture”

Praise for V&A Exhibition Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up which accompanies this book:

‘A room of her personal belongings, which had been sealed since her death, was opened, and its contents put on display at the Blue House –it is a real coup for the V&A to be able to borrow this collection.’ Jess Cartner-Morley, The Guardian
'an extraordinary testimony to suffering and spirit' The Observer
'Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up is a larger version of theinaugural viewing of the Casa Azul stash that took place in Mexico City earlierthis year. It is intimate and epic in scale, the juxtapositioning of artworkswith the items that appear in them — here some jewellery, there a headdress —compelling.’ Anna Murphy, The Times

‘Whatever your preconceptions aboutKahlo, it’s hard to leave this show unimpressed by her huge resilience, andwithout feeling just a little in love with this extraordinary woman.’ Mark Hudson, Daily Telegraph

'Claire Wilcox and Circe Henestrosa… have mastermindeda celebration of the artist’s style.’ Karen Dacre, Evening Standard
‘The V&A has now put a generous selection of these intimate contents on show, amplifying them with films of her in action, more photographs, her jewellery, her costumes and a small but gripping array of her fiery self-portraits.’ Waldemar Januszczak, Sunday Times Culture

Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator in the Department of Furniture, Textiles and Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Professor in Fashion Curation at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London.Circe Henestrosa is an independent curator and Head of the School of Fashion at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore.

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