Everyone must have heard of Frida Kahlo - the icon, the feminist, the revolutionary, the liberal lover – but how much do we truly know of her as an artist?

An on-screen art exhibition of Frida Kahlo’s paintings, Exhibition on Screen, will be showing exclusively at the Eden Cinemas on October 30 and November 1.

An intense life characterised by personal tragedy and resolute optimism is dramatically documented in her highly personal paintings. Yet, the film looks even further into her talent as a painter and works inspired by the nature and artefacts of Mexico. 

The Broken Column, 1944 (Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino)

It is hotly debated as to whether Kahlo’s works, such as the intriguing What the Water Gave Me were directly influenced by the surrealist movement. The surrealists embraced her as one of their own, while she claimed she never painted her dreams, she merely painted her own reality.

Frida Kahlo defied boundaries of what was acceptable to lay bare on a canvas, graphically portraying emotional responses to her tragic life events. Notably, in Henry Ford Hospital, Kahlo paints her miscarriage while her fraught relationship with Diego Rivera is revealed in the haunting Two Fridas.  Aided by Frida Kahlo’s diary and letters, Exhibition on Screen reveals Kahlo’s mind to be as mesmerising as it is fragile and fierce.

The film is a compelling insight into her work, her symbolism, her methods, her influences and her legacy as an artist.

Exhibition on Screen will be showing exclusively at the Eden Cinemas on October 30 at 8.45pm and on November 1 at 4pm. For information, visit edencinemas.com.mt.