Abstract
Frida Kahlo is a name that is associated with physical and emotional pain. The famous Mexican painter is well known for her self-portraits. The paper takes two of her artworks, her “Self Portrait with Loose Hair” and “A Few Small Nips” and discusses as to why they are important works to display in an exhibition. Her artworks reflect her pain and despite her limited mobility, the determined artist continued to paint. The essay offers a full explanation of the significance of her works giving historical context for understanding the artist and her work. Her canvases show her affinity for Mexican culture apart from the trauma in her life. She used bright colors to portray her strong emotions of pain and hidden fears. It is disturbing to see some of her works that combine her realistic painting style and her personal tragedies. Her self-portraits pulsating with raw energy dominate her self-portraits.
There would be hardly anybody in this world who would not associate with pain and suffering, the two basic emotions, but there are very few people who can relate to it, accept and transform it onto some medium to share it and show it to the world. “Frida Kahlo” is one such name whose life brought physical pain, betrayal in love and chaotic relationships and became a strong base for her artwork. The purpose of this paper is to exhibit why I chose “Frida Kahlo” for my exhibition discussing two artworks of her “Self Portrait with Loose Hair” and “A Few Small Nips” supporting the reasons for the chosen topic.
Frida Kahlo was born on 6th July 1907; she got infected with polio at a very young of age seven which resulted in a limp in her leg and later she met with a terrible accident when she was 18 suffering multiple fractures and broken ribs. She was bedridden for many months, and it was during this time on her bed, she started making self-portraits (Haye 1) looking at herself in the mirror in front of her bed. One can imagine the pain and agony she must have gone through looking at her in the mirror and painting herself tied to the bed, not free to move, her inner being dying to be a free bird to be the queen of the sky.
Kahlo painted her “Self Portrait with Loose Hair” in 1946 when she traveled to New York for spinal fusion. Her health condition deteriorated and worsened after this operation (Self Portrait with Loose Hair 2016). May be this why this operation has been termed as the “the beginning of the end” for Kahlo. The oil on Masonite shows Kahlo in open long hair in yellow and dark pink dress. Her face looks weak, but not hopeless; it was amazing how her paintings depicted her pain, but at the same time also showed the hope to conquer all odds and determination to survive. The facial lines express the long wait and numerous visits to doctors to get healed. Her paintings also show her deep love for Mexican culture; her portraits show her wearing Mexican dresses, braided hair decorated with flowers, ribbons, and jewelry. The colors that she used also reflects her national pride.
She had her definitions of the colors she used; she explained in her diary what different colors mean to her. According to her color yellow represented madness, sickness and fear. Yellow colors also represented joy and shining the sun to her. If we look at her self-portrait mentioned above the pale yellow color used on the face, indicate her sickness and hidden fear of her health worsening although her face seems to be relaxed. Color green particularly leaf green symbolized sadness and obviously the leaves (About Frida Kahlo's Art2016). Again in her portrait with loose hair, she used leaves in the background; there could be two interpretations, first that when she was painting there was some kind of plant behind her, second that she used it on purpose to include the element of sadness in her portrait. It is because of these factors that I chose Frida Kahlo to be part of my exhibition.
Another painting that I would like to exhibit through which Kahlo transforms her pain on her canvas is her painting “A Few Small Nips” which she painted in the year 1935.This oil on metal painting shows Kahlo’s sorrow and anger which was caused by her painter husband, Diego Rivera (A Few Small Nips 2016) by betraying her and having an affair with Kahlo’s younger sister Cristina. The subject matter for this painting was the news that she read about an unfaithful woman murdered by her man due to jealousy, upon confrontation the man defended himself by saying “But it was just a few small nips.” Kahlo could relate to it on all levels; the violent murder symbolized her own mental state and emotional setback and pain. Kahlo in fact was confined to a friend that she feel murdered by life hinting at the yearlong affair between her husband and sister. The painting done on a sheet of metal shows a woman bare, her body covered with blood on the bed; her murderer is standing next to her with no remorse on his face. Tow pigeons are painted in each corner, one black and one white, maybe indicating the dark and bright side of love.
Kahlo exhibited her work for the first time in 1938; the paintings told her story of pain suffered during her miscarriages when she was in Detroit with her husband (Lomas and Rosemary 1584). She expressed it so boldly at a time when depictions of miscarriage were almost nonexistent. Her paintings used symbols showing fertility like wombs, lactating breasts, which were not such stereotype symbols to display womanhood, but also a more intricate part of her life as she could not become a mother. Her strong desire to be a mother can be sensed and seen in her paintings.
The way Kahlo presented her pain cannot be compared to any artist as her style was unique, but few similarities and contrasts can be drawn between Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Both were Mexican artist and married each other. Kahlo painted on canvas and Deigo was a famous muralist. The subject covered was also different for both the artists. Kahlo’s work has been exhibited in many countries like Australia, Canada and about 25 museums in U.S.
In the end, I would like to reaffirm the point that Frida Kahlo rose above her pain and suffering to explore the untapped areas of truth and left her mark in the art world, sharing her legacy in a form of the exhibition would bring art lovers closer to the work. Her life as her paintings were direct display of her life events. The two artworks of her chosen for the exhibition show her trauma and reflect her pain. She used her body and medical imagery to record her life and history. Those artworks are like a biographical reading of her life and display her frustration, rage and pains.
Works Cited
"About Frida Kahlo's Art." fridakahlofans. 2016. Web. 7 May. 2016.
"A Few Small Nips." fridakahlofans. 2016. Web. 7 May. 2016.Haye, Galen. "Frida Kahlo: A Multimedia Exploration of the Human Spirit and Pain Management." Eastern Michigan University1.1 (2004): 1-10. Print
Lomas, David, and Rosemary Howell. Medical Imagery in the Art of Frida Kahlo. 299 Vol. ENGLAND: British Medical Association, 1989. Web.
"Self Portrait with Loose Hair." fridakahlofans. 2016. Web. 7 May. 2016.
