Frida Kahlo. Lo sguardo come identità (The Gaze as Identity)

From March 28 to September 27, 2026, Palazzo Pepoli hosts the exhibition “Frida Kahlo. Lo sguardo come identità" (The Gaze as Identity), presented by Ergo Expo and curated by ONO arte.

The exhibition features 70 original photographs created by important photographers, including Edward Weston, Lucienne Bloch, Lola Álvarez Bravo, Julien Levy, Nickolas Muray, Gisèle Freund, Imogen Cunningham, Leo Matiz, Bernard Silberstein, and Graciela Iturbide.

An artist and activist, Frida Kahlo has in recent years become a symbol, often emptied of its original meaning or filled, from time to time, with the most varied interpretations. Rediscovered especially from the mid-1980s onward, Frida Kahlo has been transformed into a true icon, a figure through which our era has explored themes such as identity, the body, pain, and self-representation.

The subject of many of her works, Kahlo’s art repeatedly passes through the image of her own body, from her numerous self-portraits to the photographs she never failed to have taken of herself. The image that emerges is shifting and multifaceted, inviting us not to search for the most authentic among the many versions of the artist, but rather to reflect on how she managed to influence the gaze of those who, over time, knew her, loved her, and portrayed her.

This is the question — the gaze as identity — that the exhibition proposes, leaving the answer to the audience. Not a biography in images, but an opportunity to reflect on how Frida Kahlo contributed to the creation of her own myth.

In collaboration with: Fondazione Bologna Welcome

With the support of: Card Cultura