No. 749: Frida, the Making of an Icon, Isabelle Frances McGuire

Episode No. 749 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features curator Mari Carmen Ramírez and Isabelle Frances McGuire.

Ramírez is the curator of “Frida: The Making of an Icon” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The exhibition reveals how Frida Kahlo went from virtually unknown to mainstream audiences at the time of her death in 1954 to becoming famed as both an artist and as a kind of celebrity icon. Among the factors it identifies are North American geopolitics, the role of culture in the promotion of nationhood, tourism, and international trade, and more. “Frida” features more than 30 works by Kahlo and 120 more by five generations of artists she inspired. It is on view at the MFAH through May 17. A fascinating catalogue was published by the MFAH in association with Yale University Press. Amazon and Bookshop offer it for about $60.

Discussed on the program:

McGuire is included in the 2026 biennial exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. The show was curated by Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer with Beatriz Cifuentes and Carina Martinez. It’s on view through August 23. This segment was taped when McGuire was included in the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s “Descending the Staircase” exhibition in 2024. McGuire is a Chicago-based artist whose work considers the body and how our understanding of it can be filtered by video games, film, animatronics, and other technologies. The 2024 MCA Chicago exhibition marked her first inclusion in a museum exhibition; since then McGuire has shown at Artist’s Space, New York, and at the Renaissance Society, Chicago. For images see Episode No. 648.

Instagram: Isabelle Frances McGuire, Tyler Green.

Air date: March 12, 2026.

Nickolas Muray, Frida Kahlo on a White Bench, 1939/2024.

Frida Kahlo, My Nurse and I, 1937.

Frida Kahlo, The Heart, or Memory, 1937.

Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Monkey, 1938.

Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress, 1926.

Frida Kahlo, My Dress Hangs There, 1933-38.

Frida Kahlo, Henry Ford Hospital, 1932.

Kiki Smith, From Heart to Hand, 1989.

Frida Kahlo, Luther Burbank, 1931.

Miriam Schapiro, Conservatory (Portrait of Frida Kahlo), 1988.

Miriam Schapiro, Agony in the Garden, 1991.