Perhaps what moves us when we look at self-portraiture is its inherent tension. It feels intimate, and yet we are aware that the composition has been carefully engineered for public consumption. If eyes are the window to the soul, then what can we learn from a self-portrait? Take Frida Kahlo, perhaps the world’s most iconic self-portraitist. Much of her enduring legacy, as explored in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum’s summer exhibition, Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up, remains centered around the vivid visual power of her person as told through her self-portraits. What do we uncover of Kahlo through them? “In Frida’s case, she was not thinking of becoming famous when This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Eight Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 49 Checked Out Why is hotel art so boring? Arts & Culture Issue 49 Cult Rooms The history—and future—of Luna Luna Park. Arts & Culture Issue 49 Last Night What did gallerist Selma Modéer Wiking do with her evening? Arts & Culture Issue 47 Thanks, I Hate It How to give feedback to art friends. Arts & Culture Issue 46 Puff Piece On inflatable art. Arts & Culture Issue 44 Hannah Traore The art world's next big thing is a gallerist.
