Frida Kahlo
Distributed for Reaktion Books
224 pages
|
40 halftones
|
5 x 8
During Frida Kahlo’s life, she was mostly known for being the wife of fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. It was only after her untimely death in 1954 that she became an icon, a legend of modern art, venerated for her uncompromising self-portraits. But while Kahlo has become a posthumous celebrity, much of her life—and especially her death—remains shrouded in mystery. In this concise biography of the painter, Gannit Ankori cuts through “Fridamania” to scrutinize the myths and contradictions that riddle her story and assess her impact on contemporary art and culture.
In addition to interviewing Kahlo’s surviving friends and relatives, Ankori analyzes her work, diary, letters, photographs, and medical records to reconstruct her life. She probes Kahlo’s relationships with her family, husband, friends, and doctors, as well as her status as a communist and Mexican patriot and her mixed heritage. Examining the near-fatal car accident Kahlo survived at age eighteen, Ankori explores how her health problems isolated her from people and influenced her work. She also delves into Kahlo’s connection with various religious traditions and the way she constructed multiple identities and gender roles.
Ultimately, Ankori reveals, Kahlo was both of her time and ahead of it, and the themes she engaged in her paintings—gender, cross-dressing, identity politics, the body, and religion—became significant issues decades after her death. Casting new light on the reasons for her posthumous status, Frida Kahlo is an original and succinct account of her life, work, and legacy.
In addition to interviewing Kahlo’s surviving friends and relatives, Ankori analyzes her work, diary, letters, photographs, and medical records to reconstruct her life. She probes Kahlo’s relationships with her family, husband, friends, and doctors, as well as her status as a communist and Mexican patriot and her mixed heritage. Examining the near-fatal car accident Kahlo survived at age eighteen, Ankori explores how her health problems isolated her from people and influenced her work. She also delves into Kahlo’s connection with various religious traditions and the way she constructed multiple identities and gender roles.
Ultimately, Ankori reveals, Kahlo was both of her time and ahead of it, and the themes she engaged in her paintings—gender, cross-dressing, identity politics, the body, and religion—became significant issues decades after her death. Casting new light on the reasons for her posthumous status, Frida Kahlo is an original and succinct account of her life, work, and legacy.
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