WHY DID FRIDA KAHLO BECOME AN ICON?

      My introduction to Frida came through an arts lecture given by a Kahlo authority whose name I no longer recall. I was writing for an indie newspaper in a California college town and that was my feature assignment for the week. The lecture included a slide show of Kahlo’s works. Needless to say I was intrigued, mesmerized—at times startled—by her work. I loved the colors, her style, the woman (Frida) as center of the universe. Two words described her—No fear.

MEXICO CONNECTION

     And then there was the Mexico connection: Her flamboyant, indigenous clothing, her raven hair parted in the middle, either pulled back in a tight bun or gloriously wild, the artsy jewelry. She appealed to me in all her gutsy wonder. I was not alone. She appealed to everyone, though long had she lived in her husband and mentor’s shadow. By the 1970s, Frida was breaking out and breaking the mold. She was becoming, dare I say it, as popular as her famous husband, painter, muralist and revolutionary, Diego Rivera.

PRESENTING FRIDA

Frida became an icon because the world was finally ready for her. A strong woman who stood equally alongside an alpha male, years his junior, but as powerful in her way as he was in his. Rivera had encouraged her, mentored her in her painting. A star was born. Did she overshadow her husband? Who can determine which painter held more power? That so many Kahlo paintings were self-portraits, that in itself was a symbol of a different spirit. She had been through hell and back (maybe Never back) beginning with suffering through polio and at eighteen, being hideously injured in a trolley/bus accident in Mexico City. She wore a metal body brace her entire life. Her poor tortured frame would not allow her fractured body to push out a baby. And each time she became pregnant, not only did it not come to full term but her body suffered immeasurably due to the additional pressure on her lower torso. That didn’t stop her from portraying her suffering in her artwork, for all the world to see. In a way, suffering was the gateway to her art.

 FRIDA AS ARTIST

Though she never carried a child full term, as an artist – she pressed on. Years later, in my bookstore in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, her paintings hung front and center on the walls. My favorite was Frida in the jungle with the monkeys. Love you, Frida. You have been an icon for decades. Not only because of your over-sized talent but also because of your staunch independence, your genius, your anarchistic politics, your free spirit, your shock value, and your bravery. And because you resonated with a spirit that became a universal spirit. Thank you for the beauty and the pain you portrayed and were not afraid to share. We love you Frida.

If you enjoyed this blog, check out my memoir Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, available on Amazon. Also available on Amazon, books one and two in my narco noir thriller trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, and Tulum Takedown. Also see my journalistic overview of the Maya 2012 calendar phenomenon, Maya 2012 Revealed: Demystifying the Prophecy. www.jeaninekitchel.com