{"id":22945,"date":"2023-03-27T18:51:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T18:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/becoming-frida-kahlo-new-bbc-documentary-paints-a-compelling-portrait-of-the-mexican-artist\/"},"modified":"2023-03-27T18:51:24","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T18:51:24","slug":"becoming-frida-kahlo-new-bbc-documentary-paints-a-compelling-portrait-of-the-mexican-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/becoming-frida-kahlo-new-bbc-documentary-paints-a-compelling-portrait-of-the-mexican-artist\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming Frida Kahlo: new BBC documentary paints a compelling portrait of the Mexican artist"},"content":{"rendered":"
Deborah Shaw<\/a>, University of Portsmouth<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Nearly 70 years after her death the brilliant Mexican artist Frida Kahlo<\/a> continues to fascinate for her unique artistic language that interprets her physical and emotional pain, her unconventional relationships with men and women, and her complex marriage to the great Mexican muralist Diego Rivera<\/a>.<\/p>\n She has been the subject of many books, the best known of which is Hayden Herrera\u2019s biography<\/a> and a Hollywood film<\/a>, with Kahlo played by Mexican actress and producer Salma Hayek. Her now-iconic face continues to be emblazoned across bags, t-shirts, prints, fridge magnets, jewellery, cushions and myriad other products.<\/p>\n The latest incarnation of the painter is Becoming Frida Kahlo<\/a>, a three-part documentary made for BBC Two. The series will delight Frida fans with its wealth of photographs and archival films featuring the artist in her private and public moments.<\/p>\n Becoming Frida Kahlo promises<\/a> to \u201cstrip away the myths to reveal the real Frida\u201d. As I have noted before, this is a particularly tricky endeavour when dealing with an artist for whom self-invention was her craft.<\/p>\n In previous work I argued<\/a> that questions of fact and fiction in the case of the Mexican artist are far from simple. The historical Kahlo created her own persona through art, dress and performances of self. She has become, to a degree, what her fans and admirers desire her to be: a symbol for Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Latinos in the US, feminists, and LGBTQ+ people all over the world.<\/p>\n Still, Becoming Frida Kahlo is a very comprehensive representation of the artist, and showcases the BBC at its best. It achieves this through rigorous research. Much of the narrative is driven by Luis Mart\u00edn Lozano, professor and series consultant, and author of Frida Kahlo The Complete Paintings<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mexican researchers Ruth Araiza Moreno and Lorenza Esp\u00ednola G\u00f3mez de Parada also ensure a Mexican point of view infuses the series. The final credits reveal the impressive list of archives used to bring to audiences a treasure trove of photographs and film of Kahlo (and Rivera) from her childhood in the 1920s to the time of her death in 1954.<\/p>\nThe art of self-invention<\/h2>\n