Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – The second edition of 100 Fridas for Frida opened September 3 at Blank Canvas gallery in London’s Fulham district, bringing together 100 artists in an international tribute to Frida Kahlo. The opening quickly turned into a Mexican fiesta, complete with ranchera music, tequila and raicilla.
The Puerto Vallarta participants include Caty Huet, Dinorah Gómez, Javier Niño, Gonzalo Espinosa, Claudia Ríos and Isela Mariscal, who traveled to London, along with artists Rosana Chávez, Mónica Gurrola and Gloria Benavides, whose works are included in the exhibition.
The Puerto Vallarta artists were warmly received as visitors filled both levels of the gallery. Families explored the exhibition while enjoying Mexican sweets, music and souvenirs provided by the Vallarta delegation and the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trust.
The Vallarta group shared traditional sweets and bookmarks, along with tequila and locally produced raicilla. Artist Dinorah Gómez Pérez became a focal point of the evening, dressing in Frida Kahlo’s signature braids, prominent eyebrows and an embroidered huipil while reciting poetry. Her husband, musician Everardo Camacho, donned a charro suit and serenaded families and art lovers with live ranchera songs throughout the three-hour reception.
Spearheaded by ÁREA7 and its founder, visual artist and curator Fernando Arroche Bello, the art exhibition also took on diplomatic significance. Joel Antonio Hernández García, Chargé d’Affaires of the Mexican Embassy in the United Kingdom, attended the opening ceremony.
During the event, Isela Mariscal presented the diplomat with an official letter from Puerto Vallarta Mayor Luis Ernesto Munguía and Councilor Laurel Carrillo, requesting support to establish a formal sister-city relationship with London. Hernández García welcomed the proposal and noted his personal fondness for Puerto Vallarta, which he visits frequently.
The event gave Puerto Vallarta artists an opportunity to showcase their work internationally while representing the city’s artistic talent and sharing its cultural traditions with a London audience.
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