After iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo died in 1954, her husband Diego Rivera locked some of her personal belongings in the bathroom of their shared Mexico City home, with instructions that it be sealed until 15 years after his death. The room was eventually opened in 2004.
Now, a new London, U.K. exhibit is giving viewers an intimate look at more than 300 of the artist's personal items, from her cat-eye sunglasses to one of her decorated prosthetic legs.
Japanese artist Ishiuchi Miyako's photographs of the relics of Kahlo's life are on display at the Michael Hoppen Gallery from May 14 to July 12. Here are some of the photos:
Kahlo suffered from poor health throughout much of her life, and often depicted her struggle with her health problems in her paintings.
She contracted polio as a young girl, then at 18, she was severely injured in a bus accident.
While she eventually recovered from the accident and regained her ability to walk, Kahlo would often experience painful relapses. She was noted for using clothing, including traditional indigenous apparel and regalia, to mask her condition.
"In the aftermath of her accident Kahlo constructed her iconic wardrobe to camouflage her physical ailments," the gallery said in a statement.
"Many friends noted that the more incapacitated Kahlo became the more elaborate her costumes became," the gallery said. "Throughout her life she decorated her casts and corsets elevating them from medical necessities to visual armour."
Miyako said she knew very little about Kahlo before she started the project. However, she said she came to know the celebrated artist through photographing Kahlo's personal items and the imprints Kahlo left on them.
Miyako said she was drawn to the items because "they are so much like a photograph… they are visible events recorded in the past."
Mexican painter Frida Kahlo poses at her home in Mexico City, April 14, 1939. (AP Photo)
