Mini Post - Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo : July 6^th, 1907 – July 13^th, 1954

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican Surrealist painter who typically painted self-portraits using vibrant colors in a style that was influenced by cultures of Mexico, and European Surrealism. Her self-portraits were usually a depiction of her life and her pain, mental and physical.
At the age of eighteen she was involved in a bus accident that crushed her, left her immobile, and permanently damaged her reproductive ability. She spent her recovery time painting and drawing, including numerous self portraits using a mirror across from her bed. She stated,

"I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best".


Her art spans over a hundred and forty paintings, including over fifty self portraits, many of them in a Surrealist style using symbolism to depict her pain and anguish. Unlike most Surrealists however she disliked the idea of the dream world and psychology. She stated,

"They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality"

The Broken Column - Frida Kahlo, 1944

She was included in esteemed group shows in the Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Institute of Contemporary Arts, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her 1944 piece "The Broken Column" may be the one painting that best shows her pain. The nails in her body and the tears in Frida's eyes are a metaphor for the excruciating physical pain, while her nudity depicts her helplessness and sexual angst.

Frida eventually became an impassioned Communist. Since the 70's and 80's, numerous articles, books and documentaries have been made about her life and art, as she was a central historical figure of the Neomexicanismo Art Movement in Mexico, the 1983 movie Frida, Naturaleza Viva, Haydeen Herrera's Frida: The Biography of Frida Kahlo, and the 2002 film Frida.

The Love Embrace Of The Universe, The Earth, Myself, Diego, And Señor Xolotl - Frida Kahlo, 1949

http://www.biography.com/people/frida-kahlo-9359496