Untitled (Portrait of Frida Kahlo)

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) became an iconic figure symbolizing the spirt of overcoming adversity among Chicana and Chicano artists as well as contemporary Mexican painters. Esperanza Gama, who studied art in Mexico and Europe before settling in Chicago, portrays Kahlo without her typical traditional Tehuana dress, but rather as a contemporary, cross-dressing Chicana with an androgynous look. Wearing a starched white shirt, jacket and tie, pulled-back hair and makeup accentuating her famous eyebrows and full lips, she stares defiantly out towards the viewer. Embracing Kahlo’s contemporary cult status as a feminist and queer icon, Gama pictures her in masculine garb to evoke her refusal to conform to traditional gender identities. Her fierce outward gaze evokes her perseverance and determination; as Kahlo is known to have said, “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” In Kahlo, Gama found an inspirational figure for her own work, which often depicts powerful images of women.