Christina Burrus

""My painting carries within it the message of pain"." Frida Kahlo--born in 1907 near Mexico City--learned about pain at a very early age. She contracted polio at six, and then at eighteen suffered serious and permanent injury to her right leg and pelvis in a terrible bus accident. Young and undaunted, she went on to fall in love with the great mural painter Diego Rivera at a time when their native Mexico was going through a period of thrilling political and cultural upheaval. Rivera and Kahlo were a legendary couple--both were impassioned, lifelong communists while fervently attached to traditional Mexican Indian culture, and both were driven by a relentless artistic ambition that surmounted all the dramas that plagued their marriage. Later, Frida became the friend and lover of Leon Trotsky. She was greatly admired by the Surrealists and sat for some of the greatest photographers of her day. Her art largely consisted of self-portraits, like the famous paintings "The Two Fridas" and "The Broken Column," though she also left many striking still-lives. In "Frida Kahlo: Painting Her Own Reality," Christina Burrus assesses Frida Kahlo's extraordinary work--a maelstrom of cruelty, humor, candor, and insolence reflecting the essence of a free, beautiful, courageous woman who concealed her physical pain behind peals of infectious laughter.

Discoveries: Frida Kahlo, Painting Her Own Reality

painting her own reality

Frida Kahlo

Born in Mexico in 1907, Frida Kahlo learned about suffering at an early age. She fell victim to polio at the age of six, and was then seriously hurt in a bus accident at eighteen, resulting in injuries that affected her for the rest of her life. The young and indomitable Frida met Diego Rivera, the great mural painter, when Mexico was at a great cultural and political crossroads. They formed a legendary partnership, with a strong attachment to Mexican folk art, a deep commitment to the Communist struggle and a raging artistic ambition that survived all the trials of their marriage. Admired by the Surrealists and photographed by the greatest, Frida was most renowned for her self-portraits and unusual still lifes. This book traces the extraordinary life of this artist whose unforgettable imagery combined cruelty and wit, honesty and insolence, pain and empowerment.

'I Paint My Reality'

Tate Modern (Gallery)

Gannit Ankori

Raquel Tibol

Oriana Baddeley

Presents a catalog of an exhibition of the artist's major and lesser known works.

Christina Burrus

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