Can't make the live event? No problem, you can watch the event at your convenience for two weeks.

"I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality."

Frida Kahlo is responsible for some of the most arresting images of the 20th century. At once fantastical and yet deeply real, her paintings are truly original. Their uniqueness is owed in large part to just how unique Frida was herself. "I paint myself," she once said, "because I am the subject I know best." With every painting, Frida revealed layer upon layer of her complex personality. "Frida's work," said artist Antonio Rodríguez, "is a bleeding memory of what she has experienced, a kind of autobiography." Every facet of her life is there to be seen, including her bisexuality.

Frida felt no shame whatsoever about her sexuality. Beginning when she was at school, Frida's frequent love affairs with women were passionate, intimate, and were always condoned. She teased and flirted with Georgia O'Keeffe at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery; she was very intimate with movie stars like María Félix; and, of course, the famous men she bedded throughout her life was a thoroughly impressively list: Isamu Noguchi, Leon Trotsky, and, not least, her husband, the world-famous muralist Diego Rivera. As her biographer states, Frida had "a hunger for intimacy so urgent that it ignored gender." Indeed, Frida's gender ambiguity led her to expressing herself in unconventional ways.

Yet beyond her very apparent bisexual love affairs and gender ambiguity, Frida has become a queer icon for other reasons. The way she exhibits her life and identity in her paintings, as a person who faced extraordinary adversity, creates a huge resonance with a queer audience—and this we shall explore closely. How Frida indefatigably presents herself without compromise leads to an empowerment in the viewer, enriching the experience of witnessing her art. Despite being painfully personal, her work is so honest, so deep as to be powerfully relatable, allowing a great diversity of people to regard Frida as a source of strength and solidarity. Through looking at some of her most famous paintings with a queer perspective, we shall discover what it is that has made Frida become one of the world's greatest queer icons.

About the Speaker:

George Benson co-wrote the Museum of Modern Art's first-ever queer tour. He has worked in various museums (including the British Museum, the V&A, and the Smithsonian) for the past 9 years and is currently Education and Programs Chair for the Smithsonian's Pride Alliance. He has given multiple talks for Oscar Wilde Tours' Zoom Through Queer Culture Series, including a Queer Tour of MoMA, Queer British Art, The Downtown Queer Art Scene of the 80s, and David Hockney.

FAQs

When will the Zoom invite come?

The Zoom invite will be in the confirmation email from your order and it will be sent to your email address at 48hrs, 2hrs, and 10mins before the event. PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM AND SOCIAL FOLDERS IF YOU DO NOT SEE THE ZOOM INVITE IN YOUR INBOX. If you do not receive a Zoom invitation by 1hr before the event please get in contact with us.

What time zone is the event scheduled in?

The live event is scheduled for 2:00 pm EST (i.e. New York time). You can watch it in any time zone but please adjust to the time zone you are in. If you purchase a live ticket and miss the event, you will receive a link to the recording, which is active for 7 days.

How long do I have access to the recording?

Recordings are available for 14 days after the event.

I'm an Out Professionals Supporting Member. May I attend free?

This event is in partnership with Oscar Wilde Tours. This partner event is not free with membership. However, your donation helps support LGBTQ tour guides as we emerge from the COVID crisis. They thank you for your support.