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How Did Frida Kahlo Influence Society

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“I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.” (Kahlo) Throughout the early 20th century, many social and artistic movements were underway. Popular figures showed their support of many of these movements, and we still associate the person with the movement to this day. Frida Kahlo is an artist who used her position to influence the society. We remember her today as a pop culture icon, because of her art and her beliefs, but we should not forget her life that shaped her into the person we idolize. Born on July 6th, 1907, Kahlo faced struggles before she became an adult. At age 6, she developed polio and spent 9 months bedridden. Once recovering, polio had done its toll and Kahlo’s right leg had a limp. The limp became a detail that gained ridicule from her peers. Despite this early obstacle, Kahlo …show more content…

She used a style that now known as surrealism, taking what she saw and knew and altering it. Surrealism gives art a sense of dream-like reality. Kahlo used this style to express her emotions and the pain she was going through, despite denying that her art was surrealism. Reality was the subject of her art, she used symbolism and altered reality to portray her feelings. Her art was a raw portrayal of life and Kahlo herself, not shying away from using graphic visuals at times to convey the message. Through her art, Kahlo met her husband and was able to put her art on viewing to the world. Diego Rivera was a fellow artist, both had mutual respect for the other because of their artistic skills. Kahlo was able to gain more audience to exhibit her art through Rivera, who was already an established artist. Kahlo gained popularity and opened her first solo exhibition in New York in 1938. She had artwork in galleries across the USA and Europe. Her artwork had managed to spread from outside Mexico throughout the world, something remarkable when remembering that Kahlo was both a women and struggled with many medical

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