Frida Kahlo was, like many other artists, discovered after she died. Her life was more important because she was married to Diego Rivera -- another Mexican artist. It is said that because of the somewhat traumatic life that Frida lived, her art was a result. A lot of her images are dark and many confusing but I think a very clear theme would be discovering herself and playing back her life back to others in her own way. One connection I made between Frida and our readings would be the generalization of all of them being expressions of one's self. Between all of the books that we've read this semester, I have found similarities between all of them and ten of Frida Kahlo's pieces.
Appearances Can Be Deceiving, Frida Kahlo, 1934, From the collection of: Museo Frida Kahlo
I believe this piece by Frida Kahlo is a great one to start with because of the caption given to it by the artist -- I think it shows a lot of what Laozi teaches in chapters 33 and 52 -- life beyond physicality.
This piece reminds me a lot of The Yellow Birds because of its context -- it is Frida's representation of the moments before the bus-trolley accident that changed her life forever much like Bartle who talks about the moments before a car crash where you know it could change everything and as Murph's death does change Bartle's life.
Frida and the Cesarean (unfinished), Frida Kahlo, 1931, From the collection of: Museo Frida Kahlo
Frida had an obsession with maternity much like Georg in "The Sons" had an obsession with pleasing his father. Georg was so in debt to his relationship with his father that, by the end of the story, he kills himself as his father tells him to. I think this relates to Frida because she was taken over by her inability to have children like Georg was taken over by his inability to please his father.
Though the opposite of this picture, I chose to relate it to Voltaire's "Candide" because of the opposition: Candide lived in a fantasy of optimism while Frida lived in the nightmare that is a traumatic life.
Marxism Will Give Health to the Ill, Frida Kahlo, 1954, From the collection of: Museo Frida Kahlo
The context of this work is the representation of Frida's politically-influenced utopian and optimistic perspective that came towards the end of her life. This relates quite easily to Candide's also optimistic outlook on life: though he goes through a lot of rough patches, he holds on to a hope (similar to Frida's) of a peaceful and righted world.
Self-portrait wearing a velvet dress, Frida Kahlo, 1926, From the collection of: Museo Frida Kahlo
Though Frida's personal influence on this portrait struck me, the ocean behind her influenced my decision to relate this piece to Freud's "Civilization And Its Discontents." Freud strives to understand the "spiritual phenomenon of an oceanic-feeling" which connects an ego and the world around it to create a oneness between the two much like Frida does in this work.
This piece is a depiction of a three-year-old child that Frida and her husband desperately tried to save though, as you can see, he passed away. I think this relates to both the death of Murphy in "The Yellow Birds" and the death of Jacques in "Candide" because of the idea of the youngness of all three people involved: the toddler, Murph, and Jacques didn't know the main characters of the works very well.
Family portrait (Unfinished), Frida Kahlo, 1949 - 1950, From the collection of: Museo Frida Kahlo
In "The Epic of Gilagamesh," a hero finds his reality in a friend who becomes a brother. I feel this strongly relates to Frida's family portrait because not only does her influence come from her family but also the cultures the people in it come from and though they are different, their love for one another is the same.
Though this piece is a true depiction of Frida's miscarriage, it has a lot of emotional meaning much like the plot of "The Yellow Birds." From the outside looking in, you can never know what war is like without experiencing it much like you can never know what losing a child is like unless you have.
Viva la vida, Frida Kahlo, 1954, From the collection of: Museo Frida Kahlo
Ending on a much happier note, one of Frida's last pieces was this: "Viva La Vida." She was so much happier towards the end of her life that she even titled her artwork on one of the watermelon halves and signed it -- one critique even goes so far as to say this is Frida's "signing off." I think it's pretty obvious that this piece relates to "The Daodejing Of Laozi" because of the just positivity and good ways to live life to the fullest that it possesses.
I included Kanye West's "I wonder" because that's where my title came from -- the rest of the lyrics don't have to deal much with the content of my project but that lyric can be opened up to broad interpretation as it should be.
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