Frida Kahlo

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She had a dark sense of humor, she loved pets and kids and gossip and jokes. Frida just genuinely enjoyed life despite her ailments. That being her poor health. Frida had grown progressively ill due to her previous childhood traumas and, “ended up spending 9 months enduring agonizing pain in the hospital in 1950,” (Beaver). She had gangrene, operations, bronchial pneumonia, and a whole plethora of other complications (“Frida”, Biography.com). Yet she continued to paint. She was also invited to her first solo art exhibit, still being in the hospital (“Frida”, Biography.com). And with a puff of determination,she had arrived by ambulance to the exhibit (“Frida”, Biography.com). Along with that, she was still incredibly politically active. She had even “taken part of a protest against U.S. intervention in Guatemala,” (Beaver). Specifically nuclear testing by said powers. Through these courageous acts, she had affected many people, and left them in awe.

Finally, Frida had very strong beliefs surrounding the well being of her society, gaining attention and making an impact on many people. For emphasis, even as a young girl, she was part of a group of young people who espoused a sort of socialism mixed with cultural nationalism, all during post-revolutionary Mexico. She had been part of the Mexican Communist Party (“Frida”, Biography.com). Eleven days before her death she had taken part in a protest (Beaver). Even her death was political. On July 14, 1954, her body lay in the foyer of the Belles Artes in Mexico City (Beaver). Her coffin was “draped with a large flag bearing the Soviet hammer and sickle superimposed upon a star,” (Beaver). Kahlo’s art and life also reveals the self-determination and struggle for the lives of women . Her art deals with “conception, pregnancy, abortion, and gender roles in a way to depict the taboos constricted in her society,” (Beaver). The interest in Frida has spread to the fashion and movie world, images of her face appearing on clothing, jewelry, calendars, and films. Her life and art is appealing to a wide audience, becoming yet another commodity sold in our society.

Given that Frida was not only a phenomenal artist, she had also impacted the people and society around her. Through her many obstacles surrounding her poor health and opinions of people around her, she still stayed true to herself and her beliefs. If you were put in a dire life situation, would you keep pushing for what you believed in regardless of the situation? Against all odds, she spent her whole life continually trying to break taboos and make life better for the future.

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