Analysis Of Self-Portrait On The Border Line Between Mexico And The United States

The portrayal and the representation of the Chicano Art Movements are entrenched by the Mexican-American artist who institute artistic personalities and identities in the United States. The plenteous amount of the artist is massively influenced by the immense Chicano Movement (El Movimiento) which, was established in the 1960’s. The influence of Chicano Art was due to the Mexican- Revolution philosophy, art of Pre-Columbia and indubitably European techniques of painting, cultural, social, political issues. The movement took a stand to fight against stereotypes of Mexican- Americans conducive and to resist typical social norms. The movement to concentrate on awareness of collective history, equal opportunity, grants and social mobility. Chicanos have used the movement in pursuit of expressing their cultural values. Ever since it first appeared in America the art of Chicanos has matured to illustrate common struggle and social issues in conjunction with uniting the youth of the Chicano people to their culture and history. Chicano Art is not only Mexican- American artwork; it further emphasizes and accentuates the histories of the Chicano people in a superb and sublime way of American art.

1. Frida Kahlo is one not only Mexico's most iconic artists, but one of the world's most iconic artists as well. She was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyocoan Mexico City, Mexico. Her father was of German descent and migrated to Mexico where he met her mother, who was half Spanish and half AmerIndian. She also had three sisters. Frida was always very close to her father, and was very proud of her Mexican heritage. During her childhood, she contracted a disease called Polio. She was very ill and had to stay in bed for a whole 9 months. The disease caused her right leg to become much skinnier and weaker than the left one. She had a permanent limp because of it and always wore long skirts to hide it. She met her future husband, Diego Rivera, when she was in preparatory school. One day in 1922, she was on a Bus and got in a horrific accident. She was severely injured, as a steel rail impaled her through the hip. During her period of recovery is when she began to paint her famous self-portraits. Frida and Diego reconnected in 1928 and them married in 1929. Their marriage, however, wasn't a healthy one. Diego cheated on Frida many times and they lived in separate houses. Frida, given her condition was always very depressed. She sadly passed away in 1954. Her death was reported to be caused by a pulmonary embolism, but many suspect her death may not have been accidental.

Frida Kahlo´s image has been exploited for several years, now a days it is quite easy to find: rings, phone cases, t-shirts, among several other products, all with images of Frida´s art. As a result, this got me wondering on, what made this Mexican artist worthy of such success? What did she do that was considered so important? There are many answers to those questions because Frida Kahlo made a significant impact in the world not only because of her artistic style but also, with her way of living.

Cultural identity is event in both poem and picture , Frida Kahlo is torn same as the person in Pat Mora's poem . They both are similar go back to tone , Pat Mora tone to the poem is She cheerful but really trynna be happy , just so people won't pity her because she doesn't fit into two of her heritage groups . In the poem “Legal Alien,”Pat Mora states “An American to Mexicans / A Mexican to Americans”( 14-15) . This textual evidence shows , her two heritage not accepting her for her bi-cultural background she exotic to both groups . In the image by Frida kahlo “Self-portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States” the tone is similar because you can tell that Frida is of course happy for her husband , who's the reason she had been in the U.S.A for 3 years , but now it comes to the point where she ready to go home back to Mexico , it's to the point where she can't even be happy for him no more . The image shows mexico in a less industrial place than the U.S.A , the mexico side has a moon and the sun with a lightbolt coming from the clouds , I feel this represent her trying to be happy but she simply ready to explode she's homesick from the pressure . In the same way they are similar to conflict Pat Mora conflict in the poem is , she tries to belong , but no matter what she does the way she has the advantages in speaking both languages , she still a out cast . Frida Khalo is homesick , her husband rich white friend were okay ,but maybe since Diego had a lot of affairs she feels outta place knowing , her disabled problem to , Frida Kahlo the person that doesn't hold her tongue so Diego knowing this and not trying to get her back to Mexico maybe made the case worst.

There are three main aspects of this painting, each representing a different aspect of society. The first and lower part of the painting shows the working class, gathered in desperate and impoverished lines. This shows the lack of compassion available in the American economy.

After the Mexican Revolution, which took place from 1910 - 1920, Mexican art saw a change in the type of art being created. Although the focus of creating art with an indigenous and Mexican theme continued, the country saw a shift to art presenting socialist ideals. The government saw value in working with local artist and commissioning them to create murals that would influence their political agendas. However, what these murals mostly did was strengthen the Mexican culture and bring pride to the indigenous heritage. Although this time period has come and gone, its influence over Mexican art and culture is still very apparent today and can even be seen in Mexican American communities today.

Murals are the quintessential public art embodying the spirit of the community in which they are created. They say this is who we are, this is what we think, this is where we come from, and this is what we want, reflecting most clearly any changes in the sociopolitical environment. Murals lay out a powerful visual image of the ideology of their creators or sponsors, be it the Church during the Renaissance, government funded projects, or individuals expressing opposition. In Mexico, after the Mexican Revolution of 1917, the government commissioned a vast number of mural projects to transmit its revisionist history of the country, and celebrate the empowerment of the underclass in their recent victory. Predominate themes were cultural

Ancient Mexico is a grandiose mural which represents the main events of Mexico’s history from the Pre-Columbian Period to Modern Time. The inspiration came to Diego Rivera, from the nationalist movement of his country. Therefore, the mural elements are prototypical of the painting style’s era. Physically the mural is located on the stairway of the Mexican National Palace, in Mexico City; which is the place where the Presidents work. This mural was commissioned at the end of the Mexican Revolution by the federal government. Moreover, this masterpiece depicts its era, considering that this was the dominating genre in the 1920’s, among the Mexican painters.

Mexican artists, more than most other artists in the Americas, exemplify the political and social obligations of artists. According to Soltes (2011), several Mexican artists of the early twentieth century were inspired by the revolutions and political unrest occurring in Mexico, which was reflected in their work. Diego Rivera (1886-1957) considered one of Mexico’s Renaissance artists, influenced by European avant-garde style, painted Zapatista Landscape (1915). This work was done as Rivera’s tribute to the Mexican revolutionary “Emiliano Zapata who had played a key role in the 1910 Mexican Revolution that had overthrown the then President Porfirio Diaz” (Soltes, L43, 4:42). Soltes (2011) describes this work: “very clearly we see a rifle; we see it's a sarape, together with a very stylized backdrop of water, mountains and sky, punctuated by a work that seems largely to emulate the synthetic cubist style of Picasso and Braque that we've earlier discussed. One has the allusion indeed, that we are looking at a collage of geometric forms made of diverse materials imposed against that background of vague sea and sky”(L43, 4:13).

Hispanic art, food, and entertainment all have a common theme; they are all fun, light-hearted, yet fulfilling and rich in cultural heritage. On one side, Mexican culture in particular loves to make fun of itself. There are many depictions in song and art of lazy Mexicans in large sombreros with thick mustaches eating burritos. On the other hand artists like Diego Rivera paint large murals depicting rich historical events like the revolution, in bold colors on controversial topics (This Old, n.d.).

Bright colors jumping at you asking for attention, images so real viewers can not tell the difference. These are the thoughts that came to my head as I gazed at two works of art by two Mexican artists at MoLAA museum of art . I visited two museums, Bowers Museum of cultural Art in the heart of Southern California and the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach for my report unfortunately I only liked the works in MoLAA and will talk about it through out my paper. I will talk about two Mexican artists Rafael Cauduro and David Alfaro Siqueros that caught my eye, and made me want to learn more of them and their approach to art. Siqueiros caught my eye and interest because according to his biography “no

”Image in a self portrait generally communicates to the viewer information about the identity, character, environment, feelings and interests of the artist.” In the case if “Between the Borderline of Mexico and The United States” Frida Kahlo expresses her feeling that she holds towards hr alien environment, and her cultural identity. This will now be proven through analyzing the portrait to prove the above quote.

For the beginning years of Frida’s artistic career, her work was greatly over-shadowed by Diego Rivera and was mainly known as just “Diego’s wife.” It wasn’t until 1938 that surrealist artist Andre Breton arranged for Khalo to have her first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York, which was a major hit. After much praise and great success, a second exhibition followed in Paris in 1939. Although the success of the Parisian expose wasn’t as great, the Louvre decided to purchase a painting from Khalo, The Frame, cementing her as the first Mexican artist to be featured in their collection. Despite the many barriers that women faced when establishing themselves as great artists, Frida Khalo had the virtue of being a woman in Mexican culture, which for the most part, was inclusive towards women and regarded them (women/mothers) as of equal importance which allowed for them to interact in the same social circles as men.

Frida Kahlo is a world-renowned Mexican painter known for her shocking self-portaits filled with painful imagery. Her artwork was seen by many as surrealist and socialist, but she refused the labels put on herself. Until today, her works have been able to exude the same playful and wild feel as before (Fisher n.p). Her legacy as a painter has attracted prominent people like Madonna who has confessed her admiration for the painter. Not only that but fashion designers are frequently inspired by her iconic Tijuana dresses while her paintings have been priced at more than three million dollars (Bauer 115).

During the 1930’s and 1940’s, women of the world held virtually one role and one role only…homemaker. This was no different for the women of Mexico, except for one woman in particular, Frida Kahlo. Frida refused to accept the current ideals of society and the accepted social norms by engaging in things that few women in history ever had. Frida was involved in politics, she was promiscuous with men and women, she painted pictures of herself in ways that had never been done before, and she wore the clothes of her indigenous people as opposed to the current fashions of the world. The movie Frida showcases all of these qualities. The director, Julie Taymor, uses the symbolism of these things to show how Frida