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  • Writer's pictureJanj

A little Mexican take away

Updated: Nov 17, 2020

I don’t consider myself one to follow trends, well not these days and at this age anyway; gone are the days of baaahing along with the rest of the flock just because it’s the in thing or somebody at “Hello” HQ decided it should be the rage this season – let’s face it the whole ra-ra skirt fashion thing in ‘84 didn’t work out too well for me and my chunky thighs did it? But does following a fad or trend count as jumping on a shallow bandwagon even if the subject in question just happens to pique your interest and introduce you to a lifelong passion? A few years ago you may remember when suddenly we started seeing iconic images of Frida Kahlo, the late Mexican surrealist artist everywhere, this has now snowballed and you can literally buy anything from a bookmark to a desk tidy emblazoned with her beautifully charismatic unibrowed face on. Had you heard of her before this? Do you now know her face as well as any beloved family member but have no idea of her art work or incredible life? I’ll be honest I had vaguely heard the name in passing but didn’t know much about her or her work until someone decided she would be an ideal face for t-shirt selling!

It’s one of those things where you've never see something or are even aware it exists until you’re introduced randomly one day and then POW once seen it starts appearing anywhere and everywhere. I found myself fascinated by Frida, drawn in by her charm – so much so that I immediately started googling and learning about her work and reading up on this enigma. I loved what I was reading, so many quotes and sayings that make you go “hell yeah girl!”, I bought biographies and read incredulous stories with mouth agog about her highly unlikely marriage to Diego Rivera a fellow mexican, artist and an active communist (whom she married not once but twice!) … and so my relationship with the inimitable Frida began and although introduced by a trend I actually fell a little bit in love with her – okay a lot in love, a girl crush that will long outlive the sale of a fashionable cushion!

I read more and more, and the more I learnt the more I found the woman an overwhelming inspiration and became obsessed – in a short synopsis which probably doesn’t do justice to her phenomenal if tragically short a life - Frida had poor health in her childhood; she contracted polio at the age of 6 and was bedridden for nine months. The disease caused her right leg and foot to grow much thinner than her left one, she recovered but would never lose the limp it left her with. As if that wasn't enough imagine then to be involved in an accident at aged just 18 when the bus she was on crashed and injured her horrifically. during which a handrail went through her back and out of her pelvis. The crash crushed her foot and dislocated her shoulder, her collarbone, two ribs, and one leg were broken. She spent three months in a hospital bed in a full body cast ... her pain however ignited the fire in her soul and led her to create works focusing on the death, decay, and brokenness of the human body, including sadly her resulting inability to have children, which features prominently in her work.

When once questioned on her health misfortunes she stated that she had suffered two bad accidents in her life – “one, when a streetcar ran over me the second being Diego!”

Diego and their relationship is another story! I could go on for hours – there’s the ambiguousness of her sexuality, the affairs (on both sides), the tempers and so much more but what always comes across is her strength of character - she quite rightly became a feminist icon because of her unique personality and her multifaceted life – Frida is and will always be a standard-bearer for women's inner strength and the true definition of courage in the face of adversity. Above all, she was a very talented artist and a genuine woman who was true to her convictions.

The point I’m making is, does it really matter how you come to learn of a person, a movement, a music genre, an art period or so on? Why not just enjoy the fact that your path came upon something that motivates and affects you so deeply – even trends and fads have their place in our lives. Frida inspires me to do better and be stronger every day, I owe her so much and to think I only serendipitously happened across her on a trendy t-shirt.


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