Saturday, June 29, 2024

HOW DID FRIDA KAHLO BECOME AN ICON?

 

Frida with the Monkey


My introduction to Frida came through an arts lecture given by a Kahlo authority whose name I can’t recall. I was writing for an indie paper in a California college town and that was my feature assignment for the week. The lecture included a slide show of Kahlo’s works. I was intrigued, mesmerized—at times startled—by her art. 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, pulled back in a tight bun or gloriously wild, the artsy jewelry. She appealed in all her gutsy wonder. 


I was not alone. She appealed to everyone, though long had she lived in her husband’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, 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 and mentored her. 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, symbolized a different spirit. She had been through hell and back (maybe never back) first suffering through polio as a youngster and at 18 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 body to push out a baby and each time she got pregnant, not only did it not come to full term but her body suffered due to additional pressure on her lower torso. That did not stop her from portraying her suffering in her artwork for all the world to see. Suffering was the gateway to her art.



 FRIDA AS ARTIST


Though she never carried a child full term, as 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 oversized 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 were not afraid to share. We love you Frida.





If you enjoyed this post, check out  Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, on Amazon. My website is www.jeaninekitchel.com. Books one and two in my Mexico cartel trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, and Tulum Takedown, are also on Amazon. And my journalistic overview of the Maya 2012 calendar phenomenon, Maya 2012 Revealed: Demystifying the Prophecy, is on Amazon.


Sunday, June 16, 2024

GAMBLING BET ON KENTUCKY DERBY CREATES FRICTION WITH CARTELS

 

Agua Caliente in Tijuana


In 1987, Mark "Miami" Paul, who had been betting on horse races since his teens, tuned in to watch a race at New York's prestigious Saratoga racetrack. He couldn't take his eyes off Winning Colors, a two-year old filly who was bigger than most colts. She broke out of the gate and never lost the lead. Transfixed, he knew if she ever ran in his home state, California, he and his betting pal Dino would bet on her.


Though Miami worked as a realtor, by the time one rolled around, he'd tidied us his desk and could make the first race at Santa Anita with Dino. 


"I only had one skill," he told US Bets. “That was knowing Dino Matteo, my best friend and the guy who introduced me to horse racing.


FIGURING THE ODDS


Miami knew a special horse when he saw one but Dino was brilliant, he said. "He always had an angle and always figured the odds. He read the racing form. He dithered over the horse’s past performance. He’d watch replays. He might not bet for a while but when he thought he had an edge, he'd bet with both hands.


"He was the best I'd ever seen.”


Winning Colors made it to California and was scheduled to run at Santa Anita later on that year. Watching her beat all the colts in numerous races energized both Miami and Dino and fanned their obsession with the filly. She kicked the stuffing out of every contender, race after race, taking first. The spell was cast: Maybe she could run in the Kentucky Derby.


THE KENTUCKY DERBY?


Their unlikely enterprise, planning six months in advance that an unknown soon to be three-year old filly could make the entrance requirements to the 114-year old Kentucky Derby, sounded Pollyanna-like in the extreme. Firstly, only two fillies had won the derby in the entirety of the race's history. And secondly, once entered, she’d have to win to bring home the bacon. The odds against her were high. Still they held on to hope.


One morning, Dino called Miami early. He was agitated, Miami said, and talking fast. "Listen, I was up all night running stats. She's so incredible she's starting to get noticed. They did a news article about her yesterday. The odds on her will change, soon. We've got to go to Tijuana, today."


Miami pushed back. "Vegas is closer and no border crossing." 


UNBELIEVABLE ODDS

"She's 12 to 1 in the future book betting in Vegas," Dino said. "But down in TJ, she's 50 to 1 at Agua Caliente. This is a chance of a lifetime! Pick me up and bring all the money you have. We’ll each bet $2500. At 50 to 1 odds that gives us a payday of $250 grand."




Even as semi-professional gamblers, Miami wrote in The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told, they'd had wins, but closer to $5000. He was skeptical. What were the chances an unknown filly could get entered in and win the Kentucky Derby? Plus he wasn’t flush at the time. Dino pushed back. "Just do it.”


Four hours later they were at the track’s gaming window, explaining they wanted to play their future book—Winning Colors for the 1988 Kentucky Derby, 50 to 1 odds. Dino asked the guy to confirm it.


"The teller's eyes lit up," Miami said. "He stared at Dino and asked, 'You want to bet $2500 dollars that a filly will win the Derby?'


"Dino said, 'Yeah, I know it's crazy but I still want to place the bet.'" The last thing Miami remembered was Dino counting out 50 hundred dollar bills.


THE PLOT THICKENS


Now they had to wait five months hoping Winning Colors could win races that would earn her a spot to qualify for the Derby. Miami ran into a friend and told him about his and Dino's bet. 


The friend said, "Dude, do you know who owns Agua Caliente? A member of the Arellano-Felix drug cartel. The track owner, Jorge Hank Rhon, uses it to launder money. Even if they had that much money, what makes you think they're gonna hand over $250 thousand and let you waltz out of there? You guys are out of your minds."


Miami said he worried about it for a minute then thought, what are the actual chances of Winning Colors even getting into the Derby? First she has to run and win a series of stakes races. And she'd have to run against Goodbye Halo, an up and coming champion in the initial qualifier at Las Virgenes.


GOODBYE HALO


The Las Virgenes Stakes Race day came and Winning Colors lost to Goodbye Halo by a head. Dino was devastated. He was worried she had to go up against 19 colts and win come Derby day. She had one final shot to make it into the Derby and that was winning at Santa Anita Oakes in April where she'd run against the best colts on the West Coast. If she could come through that, she might have a shot at the Derby.


Santa Anita Racetrack exuded a typical sunny southern California vibe the day of the race and there was energy in the air. Miami and Dino were amazed at the crowd of seventy thousand filling the stands with women and girls who had come out to watch the filly run against the boys. She had a fan following."Girl Power"and "Go Girl Go" signs were everywhere.


FILLY POWER


"It was a cult scene,” Miami told an interviewer for Snap Judgment. "Winning Colors had gained a following. We just hoped she could remain calm.”


She was known to be bothered by loud noises. The fellow gamblers settled in to watch the race, hoping the fans' screams wouldn't affect her sense of well being.


"The other three-year olds were stirring and moving around in the cages, but Winning Colors was undisturbed. The race started, and she broke perfect like a waterfall out of a dam," Miami said. "She takes the lead from the beginning and she wins! By eight lengths! We're yelling, on to Kentucky!" 


JOURNALIST DOWN


But cloud nine didn't last long. Two days later Dino called and told Miami a Mexican journalist nicknamed El Gato, Hector Felix Miranda, from a Tijuana magazine, Zeta, had been writing negative pieces about the owner of Agua Caliente, Jorge Hank Rhon. The journalist had been assassinated in his car, blown away by a shotgun blast enroute to work. The head of Agua Caliente security had been arrested for his murder along with Jorge Rohn's personal bodyguard.

Hector Felix Miranda, journalist


Fear reared its ugly head smack dab in the middle of their dream. Miami started to fear for both his and Dino's lives more so than cashing in on a bet. Now journalists were dying. Dino however was not content to walk away as the filly's star continued to rise. He decided they’d go to TJ the day of the Derby and watch the race on Simulcast. They figured with thousands of people at the track, it was safer than going back a week later to collect a quarter of a million dollars with no one around.


The race track was electrified on Derby day—mariachi bands mixed with revelers and street vendors. This Kentucky Derby in Louisville had attracted 135,000—the largest sports crowd in all the world. It was the toughest derby field in the last 30 years, and included an undefeated champion along with 16 notable colts. Winning Colors was the sole female entry.


SERENE ON SIMULCAST


Miami and Dino spotted Winning Colors on one of the Simulcast screens. She looked serene. This was it: the 114th Kentucky Derby. The starter gun sounded and they were off. Within a quarter mile, their filly was running away from the others. Right from the start she led the way. Turning towards home, she shortened her stride— she was tiring out, but she kept going. Down to the stretch, she hung on, and the photo finish proved her win by a neck. She won!


Winning Colors wins the Derby


After initial jubilance, they knew they had work to do. They let the crowds settle before heading to the window to collect their earning. "Oh, a big one," the teller said.


He had to get a supervisor. After a delay, he returned with his boss. "Hmm, that's a big ticket. No, not today. You'll have to come back."


Dino looked at the guy. "What do you mean, not today. It says Winning Colors to win the Kentucky Derby, $250 thousand dollars. You have to pay us."


RAINCHECK?


The guy shook his head. "No, you gotta come back."


Miami said, "You mean come back on Tuesday when nobody's here?" He looked over his shoulder and saw guards standing behind them, rifles slung over their shoulders.


He said to Dino, "We gotta get out of here.”


At first Dino resisted but went along. They headed for the staircase with guards following. Miami said, "Run!"


Five guards clambered down the staircase behind them. They flew into the parking lot, jumped into Miami's car. He hit the gas doing 70 mph before hitting the street. As they roared up the boulevard he shouted, "Look behind! Is anyone following us?"


THE CODE


With no one on their tail, they headed for the border. Dino was ticked off and kept yelling, "They broke the code. You always pay your gambling debts first."


They met the next morning for breakfast. It came down to the gamblers' code. Since Dino had engineered the stats on Winning Colors and had essentially given them the win, Miami felt it was his job to bring home the bacon and keep them safe. Dino's job was done.


Their next move had to be orchestrated just so. Dino knew three professional fighters with martial arts skills. They hired them for backup at the track that Tuesday. They'd bought six backpacks to carry the loot.


EL JEFE


After parking at the track, Dino, Miami and their fighters passed three armed guards en route to the window. They handed the ticket to the teller; she immediately called for a supervisor once she saw the ticket’s worth. A well-dressed man appeared ten minutes later. He said, "Follow me. Gotta talk to el jefe. Only you two."



Dino frowned. "I don't like this," he said, as he motioned for their muscle to stand down.


Miami shrugged. They followed him down a flight of stairs, through two sets of oak doors plus a third with a set of bars. It began to feel like a dungeon, Miami wrote. The guy opened another door. Inside it was dark. Through a cloud of smoke they could see a heavy set man sitting at a table, cigar in hand. El jefe. He waved them in, indicating they should take a seat.


Without preamble el jefe said, "We know who you are."


That spooked Miami, but he was quick with a response. "Yeah, we're good customers and we're here to cash our tickets."


"Wait a minute." The cigar smoker flicked an ash off his stogy. "We just want to be fair." 

Dino was rattled. "Well then, just give us our money. We won our bet. She won the Derby 50 to 1. Pay us, goddamm it."


With eyes on Miami, el jefe said, "Calm your little friend down."


THE CON


Things were spinning out of control. Dino spoke again, "Listen, we know all about you, too. We know all about Jorge Rohn. We know about your cartel connections, and before we came down today, we went to the LA Times and talked to a friend who's a reporter. We told him about our tickets, we told him about Rohn. We told him about Winning Colors. We told him we won our bets and we gave him a copy of our tickets. If you guys don't pay us, you and your boss, Rohn, are going to be on the front page of every newspaper in LA tomorrow. They’ll know who he is, what you did to us, how you stole from us, and it's not going to go away." 


El jefe seemed taken aback. "Give me a minute." He walked across the room, opened the door and was gone.


After he left, Miami looked at Dino in total disbelief. "Where did that come from? That was brilliant, man."


Dino said, "I don't know. What do I have? I can't threaten him. But publicity? We're still gonna die, but it was a good idea."


Miami and Dino waited. Five minutes, ten minutes. Finally el jefe returned. "Come with me.”


They marched back upstairs and at the counter, the teller proceeded to count out $250 thousand dollars. El jefe looked at them, gave a short nod and said, "We don't ever want to see you back here again."


Miami nodded back. "Agreed."


As they filled up the final backpack, Dino took out three hundred dollar bills and handed one to each of the guards before they walked down the hallway, the fighters trailing behind. Everyone got into their cars and booked it for the border.


THE FINISH LINE


They crossed the border without incident, and it was done. They'd just made $250 thousand dollars on Winning Colors at the Kentucky Derby.


By the time Miami arrived at Dino's house, they were too tired to celebrate. "I felt like we ran the Kentucky Derby ourselves," he said.
He gave Dino a hug and drove home. He climbed out of his car, went straight to his bedroom and opened the backpacks. He spilled all the cash onto his bed and called it a night.


"Seabiscuit" Meets “Narcos"




Mark Paul wrote about his and Dino's adventure in The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told-A True Tale of Three Gamblers, the Kentucky Derby and the Mexican Cartel. When pitching it to film studios, he billed it as "Seasbiscuit" meets "Narcos." And there's a real possibility it may make it to the silver screen. Stay tuned.


If you enjoyed this post, check out  Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, on Amazon. My website is www.jeaninekitchel.com. Books one and two in my Mexico cartel trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, and Tulum Takedown, are also on Amazon. And my journalistic overview of the Maya 2012 calendar phenomenon, Maya 2012 Revealed: Demystifying the Prophecy, is on Amazon.


Saturday, June 1, 2024

MEXICO'S SILVER RENAISSANCE EMERGED FROM THE GENIUS OF WILLIAM SPRATLING'S VISION




Imagine a city on a hill, the surrounding countryside brimming with the precious metal, silver. That would be Taxco in Guerrero, Mexico, situated between Mexico City and Acapulco. By some estimates, a third or more of all the silver ever mined in the world has come from Mexico's mountains with production still rising. Mexico and silver are synonymous.


Though silver has filled the coffers of great civilizations since 3000 BC— from Anatolia, now modern Turkey, to Greece, the Roman Empire, and Spain, no single event in history rivals the discovery of silver by European conquerers in the Americas following Columbus's landing in the New World in 1492. Those events changed the face of silver and the world forever.


Between 1500 and 1800, Bolivia, Peru, and Mexico accounted for over 85 percent of world silver production and trade as it bolstered Spanish influence worldwide. But long before the Spanish arrived in the Americas, according to author William H. Prescott in his sweeping 1843 epic History of the Conquest of Mexico, the Aztecs used silver to make ceremonial gifts for their gods while also producing ornaments, plates, and jewelry.



Treasures recovered from Spanish galleons


AZTEC JEWELRY


Along with the precious metals of silver and gold, equally prized by the Aztecs were brightly colored feathers from quetzals and hummingbirds that accentuated the metals. The feathers were difficult to come by and required trade from far away places. Aztec jewelers were incredible craftsmen but unfortunately not much of their work survived the Spanish conquest. Most pieces were melted down but what relics do remain are of excellent quality and design. 


Author Prescott paints a picture of the splendors of Montezuma's court where silver and gold ornaments were on full display. And though silver wasn't readily found near the Aztec capitol, it was mined in the northern central highlands towns of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi. Then around 1558, one of the richest silver veins ever was uncovered in an area near what would become Guanajuato, which led it to become the world's leading silver producer of the day.


In not only Guanajuato but also Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi, grand, faded colonial buildings still stand as the indirect legacies of indigenous slave laborers who worked under horrific conditions to extract vast quantities of silver, along with gold, copper, lead, and iron, for greedy prospectors and wealthy robber barons. 



ENTER TAXCO


By the end of the 16th century, Guanajuato had faded and Taxco came to be known far and wide as the silver capital of the world, supplying Europe with the precious metal for many years. But new deposits in Latin America pushed Taxco into obscurity for more than two hundred years until José de la Borda, a Spaniard who immigrated to Mexico, rediscovered silver veins in Taxco in 1716. De la Borda learned the mining trade from his older brother. Taxco was built between 1751 and 1758 by de la Borda who made a great fortune in the silver mines surrounding the town and was considered to be the richest man in Mexico. 



WANING INFLUENCE


Taxco de Alcaron, known as Taxco, is Mexico's silver capital and considered a national historic monument, home to 300 silversmiths selling wares throughout the city. Though it's recognized today as an outstanding center for silver production, after de la Borda's death in 1778, Taxco's prominence waned. 


Then in the 1930s, Taxco's ancient silver crafts were revived by US resident William Spratling, who hired a master goldsmith to create his first range of items, before engaging a local silversmith, Artemio Navarette—considered the best in Guerrero—to teach him silversmithing. With the combination of Spratling's innovative designs and his mentor's skills, by the early 1940s Taxco became known as a center for silver jewelry, not only in Mexico but also abroad.



SPRATLING'S ARRIVAL


As an architect and artist who had taught in Tulane University's School of Architecture in New Orleans in the mid-1920s, Spratling's appearance in Taxco was an accident waiting to happen. During summers from 1926 through 1928, Spratling lectured on colonial architecture at the National University of Mexico's summer school and had grown familiar with nearby Taxco's winding cobblestoned streets and colonial charm.


Amethyst brooch by Spratling


In Mexico during the 1920s, worlds collided when painters, writers, and musicians confronted a brave new Mexico after its bloody revolution. Mexico was ready to embrace renewal after the ten-year torment of war that had raged from 1910 to 1920. Artists and artisans across the newly democratized nation were inspired, ready to re-examine their national identity and cultural traditions, having defied the ruling class. It was time to empower the impoverished rural people by embracing their folk traditions and crafts. Both Mexican and American intellectuals began to collect and promote the jewelry and crafts of Mexicana history. 


HISTORY AWAITS


Spratling with Diego Rivera, 1940s

Artists, including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Juan O'Groman, descended upon colonial Taxco. Spratling, a one-time literary hopeful, had already come into contact with others on the writing scene—William Faulkner and Sherwood Anderson—and he soon became friends with Rivera whose friendship broadened his cultural understanding. He began to explore the rugged, unmapped regions of southern Mexico. He moved permanently to Taxco in 1929 and began designing furniture, jewelry, and homewares based on the indigenous motifs he uncovered. 


BRINGING IT HOME


As Spratling settled into life in a colonial village, he was inspired by Dwight Morrow, American ambassador to Mexico, who told him that while Taxco's silver mines yielded thousands of pounds of silver over the centuries, little remained in Mexico. That motivated Spratling to establish his first studio in Taxco. The legend of what was to become Mexico's silver capital had begun. Spratling's ability to create stunning pieces of jewelry, flatware, and decorative objects was born.



PRE-COLUMBIAN INFLUENCES


While at Tulane, Spratling had been introduced to pre-Columbian and Mesoamerican art and along with his Mexican travels, these motifs proved a strong influence on his early silver jewelry designs. His studio, named Taller de las Delicias (Workshop of the Delights) grew rapidly and by the late 1930s he employed several hundred artisans to produce his designs. From Mexico, those pieces found their way north of the border through Montgomery Ward catalogs, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Gump's in San Francisco.



Spratling in his Taxco studio


Known in time as the father of contemporary Mexican silver, Spratling incorporated native materials like amethyst, turquoise, coral, rosewood, and abalone into his creations. Depictions of real and pre-Columbian motifs of discs, balls, and rope designs were typical in his pieces. Art historians say that his use of aesthetic vocabulary based on pre-Columbian art can be compared to the murals of Diego Rivera, in that both artists, along with Frida Kahlo, were involved in the creation of a new cultural identity for Mexico. Spratling's silver designs drew on pre-conquest Mesoamerican motifs with influence from other native and Western cultures. 


His work served as an example of Mexican nationalism and gave Mexican artisans the freedom to create designs in non-European forms. For this reason, because of his influence on the silver design industry in Mexico, the monicker, "Father of Mexican Silver," came into being. 


A MAN OF THE PEOPLE


Besides pioneering a new concept of Mexican silver design, Spratling developed an apprenticeship system to train new silversmiths. Those with promise worked under the direction of the maestros and in time would go on to open their own shops.


Through Spratling's innovation and artistic expertise, Taxco is the most famous silver town in the world's leading silver-producing country. "Probably eight out of every 10 houses in Taxco has its own silver workshop—there's the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom, the living room and the workshop," said Brenda Rojas, director of the William Spratling Museum. "Ninety-five percent of the people in Taxco live from silver. Taxco grew because of silver."


Spratling's work was recognized throughout Mexico for its originality and superior quality. Dr. Taylor Littleton, author of William Spratling: His Life and Art, is the definitive Spratling biography, creating a portrait of the fascinating, intensely driven icon of the mid-20th century, said one reviewer. And from Littleton, "His whole life flowed into everything that he designed." 


Reneé d'Harnoncourt, director of New York's Museum of Modern Art and longtime friend, praised 'the climate of understanding' Spratliling built that contributed to the acceptance of Mexican art. "I know of no one person who has so deeply influenced the artistic orientation of a country not his own," she said. 


Silver fertility bracelet by Spratling


As his business grew, Spratling moved his taller to a large mansion and to manage the costs, incorporated in 1945 to provide cash flow for the company. He sold a majority of the shares to a US investor, Russell Maguire, who ultimately took the company into bankruptcy. William Spratling died in a car accident returning to Taxco from Mexico City in 1966. Spratling was 66.


Parting words soon after his death were solicited from friends and associates. Artist Helen Escobedo said this, "Although he was isolated in Taxco, he was always au jour. The man was an adventurer and nothing was too much for him. He couldn't squeeze enough out of life. He was an extraordinary character. He made his own rules. He was a rough diamond and never attempted to polish it. His charm consisted in being ridiculously generous, extremely interesting...a story teller. His silversmiths respected him. They knew he knew his job. They understood him because he thought in their ways.”


In Taxco, the William Spratling Museum, a three-story building, holds his collection of indigenous artifacts.



If you enjoyed this post, check out  Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, on Amazon. My website is www.jeaninekitchel.com. Books one and two in my Mexico cartel trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, and Tulum Takedown, are also on Amazon. And my journalistic overview of the Maya 2012 calendar phenomenon, Maya 2012 Revealed: Demystifying the Prophecy, is on Amazon.