We Were Children

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.

The documentary We Were Children, directed by Timothy Wolochatiuk, followed two survivor’s stories of what really happened in the Residential schools in Canada. The stories that have been told, sheds light into the acts that took place and how it still has affected the survivors today. These schools have stripped away the children’s identity and their culture, leaving behind their traditional heritage.

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.

Frida's artwork has always interested me in many ways. Her paintings are so much more than self-portraits and surrealism. She illustrates her life and the struggles she goes through, even if most would like to ignore the darker aspects of life. The theme of suffering permeates Frida’s self-portraits and often explicitly comprises their subject matter. She visually depicts physical and psychological struggles through the distortions of her body, which is fragmented, doubled, turned inside-out, and merged with non-human elements. She shows me that I can be strong through life even when I'm hurting physically and emotionally. Frida challenged herself and her

People may refer to Frida Kahlo as the lady with the unibrow, but others refer to her as one the greatest Mexican painters. She was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyocoan Mexico. When she was about 6 she was diagnosed with polio which is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, or even death. (Crosta 1) Due to polio she was bedridden for 9 months. Frida attended the National Preparatory School where she first noticed Diego Rivera who is a famous muralist. At this time she fell in love with another man Alejandro Gomez Arias. She and Alejandro were on a trip when a monumental moment happened which will change her life forever…. (Frida Kahlo Biography 1)

One of my most favorite artists is the Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo. She was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon in Coyoacan, Mexico, July 6, 1907 and died July 13, 1954. She was one of four daughters born to a Hungarian-Jewish father and a mother of Spanish and Mexican Indian descent. Frida Kahlo is the most famous Mexican woman artist on the contemporary art scene. In 1922, Kahlo hung out with a group of politically and intellectually like-minded students. The Mexican mural movement begins. Frida first learns of Diego Rivera, who is painting his mural "Creation" at the school 's lecture hall. Kahlo becoming a painter, was not a part of Frida 's career goals. Her goal in life was to become a doctor but a tragic accident at age 18 left her mentally and physically scared for life. It changed the course of her life forever. It was during her months of convalescence that Frida began to take painting seriously…"to combat the boredom and pain". she said. "I felt I still had enough energy to do something other than studying to become a doctor. Without giving it any particular thought, I started painting." It was the beginning of a life-long career for Frida.

Frida came to Diego one day and asked him to see her painting and upon him noticing her talent he would stay close to her. Frida never having anyone support or be there for her fell madly in love with Diego Rivera, a known painter for his work during the Mexican mural movement. Despite her parents disapproval the two would get married and live together for a long time. Frida before finding out about his secrete affaires, would paint portraits such as " Diego on my Mind" which when analyzing one can see how obsess she had become for her lover Diego. In this particular portrait Frida is wearing the traditional Tehuana costume that Diego greatly admired and loved, while wearing leaves as a crown and Diego's head of her forehead. She wore the Tehuana costume to entice Diego closer to her and when paying close attention one can see that the roots of the leaves make a sort of spider-web in which one can only assume she will catch and hold her lover in. There is no doubt that Frida was obsess with Diego and nothing would take him out of her mind, not even when he was known as a

Frida Kahlo's influence still lingers around the world. Even with Frida dead for almost two decades, she is still celebrated and thought of as an idol. Frida Kahlo was an artist in many different ways. Besides Frida's incredible talent to paint surrealist thoughts and emotions on canvas, she also was and artist in her mind and body. Frida's attire of traditional Mexican clothing, which consisted of long, colorful dresses and exotic jewelry, and her thick connection eyebrows, became her trademark. To the public, Frida Kahlo appeared to be full of spirit and joy. She walked through life happily, with a smile glued to her face. However, her feelings of anguish, anger, unhappiness of her painful miscarriages, and

The sentence provided a justified and reasonable answer to the question of,” Why did Frida choose herself as her subject”, “Frida chose herself as her subject matter for constructing an identity that was never merely autobiographical, but also participated in constructing culture, history, and mythology in resistance to stereotyping, imperialism, and the continuing threat of simplifications” (Barnet, 257). To conclude with Frida’s work, I have to declare that my favorite art piece of hers is, “The broken Column” (1944), because in this painting, Frida exposes something that changed and caused lot suffering in her life, her broken body, but at the same time she revealed herself as a strong woman who bravely kept moving on without hesitation.

In Frida, an autobiographical film based on the life of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Julie Taymor (director) wonderfully presented the real-life of Kahlo’s. Frida Kahlo was a phenomenal woman who broke through every expectation placed on a middle-class Mexican woman. Taymor does an impressive job of capturing the emotional transformation that occurs in Kahlo after she is fatally injured on a bus accident in Mexico City, Mexico. Kahlo is left in an incurable state that causes her to be bedridden; however, through her breakup she is able to gain the motivation required to properly recover. While is she painfully healing, Kahlo begins to explore her talent in painting and eventually is able to prefect it. After Kahlo is able to somewhat recover, she sparks a friendship with her future husband,

I have watched the film, We Were Children, four times since it was first broadcast on TV in 2012. It is very difficult to watch because of my own family’s personal experience with the residential school system. I felt sad, depressed and a tremendous sense of loss for days after watching the film. I felt much better after our class had a chance to debrief, meet with Chickadee and she talked about forgiveness. I also felt very angry that young children were systematically taken from their families with the goal of assimilating them into mainstream Euro-Canadian society. My paternal grandfather was born in Chicago in 1909, he was of mixed ancestry (Italian and Aboriginal) and he was orphaned at a young age. He was raised by his Aboriginal grandparents, until

Frida was born in Coyoacan, Mexico City on the sixth of July, in 1907. She is formally known as one of the worlds greatest artists but also gained admiration from both men and women because of her attitude, strange behaviour, exquisite looks, and interesting story. During Frida’s time, traditional gender roles in Mexico existed, but Frida didn’t let these falsely established roles define her place in society. Frida Kahlo was a role model to her gender because she defied gender stereotypes. She presented herself how she wanted, disobeyed her destiny as a victim, and advocated for self-expression.

Frida is a movie that talks about the life of Frida Kahlo. The movie started out with Frida in Mexico and she was being transported to an art gallery in a flat-bed truck all dressed up. As she was transported, she starts to remember her life and how it all started. Frida was involved in an accident with her boyfriend Alex when she was eighteen years old and the accident affected her leg, back, ribs, broken pelvis, and uterus and this affected her reproductive capacity. Everyone thought that she won’t be using her feet to walk, but she proved them wrong. The first time she saw and actually talked to Diego Rivera was when she saw him in the studio painting a picture of a naked woman. At that time she called him Panzón and when she went to him to ask him to help her review her artworks, he remembered her when she called him Panzón again. Though the relationship with Diego Rivera and Frida was supposed to be just comrades but they turned out to be lovers who got married later on. After the marriage, Frida learns that Diego had cheated on her with the model he used on a mural, and this upsets her. Frida gets pregnant but later miscarries and she is devastated as she had always wanted children. In Mexico, Diego and Frida live in separate houses, joined by a narrow bridge.

Throughout Frida’s journey and development as an artist, she beings an adventurous yet dysfunctional relationship with the famous muralist Diego Riviera. Riviera’s political battles also correlate with many of the discussions in our culture Spanish course. Throughout the film, Riviera expressed his views as a communist which shaped his political views and paintings. His mural at Rockefeller Center was removed due to its communist theme/message. He was fighting for his paintings to be shown and celebrated among society by representing his

4. Frida Kahlo essentially became an international cultural icon, honored by many people, especially in Mexico. Her artwork withholds visual symbolism of all kinds of emotional and physical pain and most importantly she incorporated indigenous culture and her depiction of the female experience. Including illustrating the feelings of death, loneliness, pain, including the pain of miscarriages, failed marriage, and the aftermath of tragic accidents. Through her imagery, she was able to portray her life experiences. She would include specific elements that symbolized something greater. Throughout the process of analyzing all different aspects of Frida Kahlo’s paintings, it provided a deeper understanding to each painting.