Frida Khalo did not move me, or at least that was my initial reaction to her work. First, in order to explain me reaction to her artwork, let me say I was never into art that was meant to be symbolic. I never felt as though it were addressed to me. I always wondered if the lack of straight forward design to much of modern art was done from a lack of talent or from a high-brow standpoint of someone who felt they were deep and sophisticated. The strange imagery all meant to stand for something else that I would have to interpret was all, frankly, stupid to me. Then once I started looking at Frida’s paintings and upon learning some of her background it all came together.
Frida’s paintings were all leading back to the same place, they all describe different past or ongoing episodes of her life. The self portraits spoke to her life and experiences while the backgrounds were a double-entendres for what was happening to her at the time. That was when she began to earn some of my respect. I have always felt that people often much more influential people than myself have determined what was good or not in terms of art. Many times what was considered good art was nothing to me, it didn’t even contain entertainment value for me. Then when I began to think about Frida’s paintings a began to see all of the talent required to make all of the connections she was making. How she painted her life through her unique vision of the world such a small cross section of human existence, the life of a Mexican woman, made sense to me a Puerto Rican American male who never suffered any bus accidents or any of the tragedies she suffered in her life, yet I understood exactly what she was saying. That brings me to the painting that I enjoyed most Frida’s “The Broken Column.”
The painting “The Broken Column” spoke to me with its message. In this painting Frida is painted wearing the apparatus that she wore to keep herself erect after one of her surgeries. I think that her wearing the white back brace in the painting is her way of showing the way she is now forced to live her day-to-day life. That without the help of the brake the column that is her spine cannot be held together. The column is fractured and destroyed which could be a representation of the multiple operations Frida had one her spine to help her walk. The column could also be a representation of her life, which is being held together from falling apart by the brace.
The background of the painting is a representation of the dry barren landscape that was Frida’s life. The land is deeply cracked and destroyed with deep craters. The dry land that cant support life could also be a representation of Frida’s inability to bare children as a result of her injury, “the broken column.” Deep in the distance in the painting is a blue sky and some green vegetation meaning that deep in Frida’s past was full of good times. The growth in the earth behind the barren wasteland is Frida’s past hope of having children. Then there is the imagery of the nails all over Frida’s body, which could be a representation of the constant pain all over her body. The covering of the pelvic area with the white cloth is a representation of the loss of the ability to reproduce because the womb is covered.
Frida’s face in the painting also is very telling her condition. Her hair is disheveled meaning she is deeply sad and not in control of herself. The exaggeration of her face is also a showing of her lack of control and pain in her life. Frida’s very pronounced eyebrows, and the much darker than normal hair above her mouth, is Frida making herself “ugly” to show the unhappiness in her life. The tears are clear symbols of pain and sadness. All of the symbolism of this painting is a declaration of her unhappiness and inability to change from what she is.
This painting spoke to me because it was so clear. The talent was so clearly apparent nothing representing what it truly is only symbolizing some aspect of Frida’s life. The dark coloring at the forefront of the painting showing her current life and the light vibrant colors in the background representing the promise that filled Frida’s past. All of these things made me choose this painting. It was deep and caused me to think and understand her struggle. The painting is uncomfortable to look t so beautifully done that you want to look but upon noticing the disturbing imagery making you want to look away. It was an awesome job done by a clearly talented person.
