The Two Fridas: How the use of semiotics reflects the social history of Mexico in Frida Kahlo’s work
Publication Date
Fall 11-15-2026
Presentation Length
15 minutes
College
Watkins College of Art
Department
Art, Department of
Student Level
Undergraduate
Faculty Mentor
Judy Bullington
Metadata/Fulltext
Fulltext
Presentation Type
Talk/Oral
Summary
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are often credited as having played a crucial role in establishing a Mexican avant-garde. According to the Denver Art Museum’s statement for the exhibition Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism, their body of work often incorporated portrayals of mexicanidad, an identity born of Mexico’s ancient cultures and its colonial past that projected a visionary future. The use of mexicanidad imagery started with the efforts to create a new national art, following the Mexican revolution, when the country used public and socially effective art to communicate new ideals of identity. Through the analysis of the works The Two Fridas by Frida Kahlo, this research and presentation will analyze the direct influence of Mexican social history, politics and spirituality in the iconography of Kahlo’s work. In addition to that, the presentation will explore how the romantic relationship between the artist and Rivera worked as an artistic partnership and can also be read as a reflection of the social structures surrounding gender in Latin America, which shaped their creative own processes. Kahlo asserts the centrality of her physical body in her work, which becomes an intersection of vulnerability and agency. Her work reflects Mexico’s artistic renaissance in the twentieth century, that endure as powerful explorations of the self, and show how art can function as both a personal catharsis and as a profound expression of cultural belonging.
Recommended Citation
Botteon Martins, Raquel Maria, "The Two Fridas: How the use of semiotics reflects the social history of Mexico in Frida Kahlo’s work" (2026). SPARK Symposium Presentations. 724.
https://repository.belmont.edu/spark_presentations/724
