In all the excitement of getting our Issue 02 to the printer, and a little wink and nod ot the upcoming retrospective on Duchamp coming to MoMA in April that we featured in print, I forgot about the main event, Frida and Diego: The Last Dream, opening at MoMA on March 21 in what probably will be the most popular show of the 2026 calendar year. Not just popular, critically essential, at least I think. It feels like every few years, revisiting the last impact of Frida as both a talent and angelic deity of the modern world, as well as Diego’s socialist and provocative public art practice and breadth of his own collection, is needed. Like I said, essential.
There is a love, passion, tragedy, heartbreak, anger, camaraderie, friendship, betrayal, trust and of course, incredible art and some of the defining images of Mexican art even today. Frida herself seems to embody the spirit of Mexico, and Diego’s art and muralism also showed the adventurous and defiant spirit he had in the face of the impending world of capitalism and industrial production. They both fought together, but made their own work and their own way.
And the love story is indeed important here, because rarely can a love story not be included when we think of the past. They are intertwined in history in this way. It’s Frida and Diego. I’ve always thought of her paintings as better than his, but seeing his murals in Mexico recently, and his incredible collection at the Museo Anahuacalli, I feel like didn’t give him his praise. Probably because I thought he treated Frida so poorly. But perhaps this show will put into context all the good they did while romantically together?
Frida is literally, for me, The Unibrow. She is the highest of the high culture and the lowbrow, find-my-face-on-a-keychain-at-a-flea-market type of famous icon that she means so much to everyone. Most people, art world or not, know Frida. She’s ubiquitous, an entry point to art and the exit to the hall of fame of art. She is in MoMA and on a Vans shoe. She’s the reason I thought of this title for the magazine. The ticket sales for The Last Dream will confirm we are right on that.
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Text by Evan Pricco
