Frida Kahlo Art

In the years following the end of colonialism, Latin American countries such as Mexico still had remnants of colonial systems left in place, as they were ingrained into people and societies. The ideas and systems that remained in Latin America after the end of formal colonialism included gender biases within politics and law and the role of women in society compared to men. There were many forms of resistance to these colonial remnants, including protests and social organizations, however one quieter form of protest which is less commonly considered is art. The intersection of postcolonial societal structures and gender is embodied in the art of Frida Kahlo, a painter who lived and painted in Mexico City in the 1920s through the 1940s. Frida
While women in colonial Mexico were generally under the legal authority of some male figure, that legal restriction was not as prevalent in the 20s and 30s when Frida was an active artist. However, the patriarchal ideas of ownership and dominance were still apparent in the way that Frida was viewed by American media. In 1933, Frida and Diego Rivera came to Detroit in order for Diego to work on a mural project there. The Detroit news published an article on Frida’s art and relationship with the more famous Rivera titled “Wife of the Master Mural Painter Cheerfully Dabbles in Works of Art”, which, though both Frida and Diego were artists, places value in Diego’s work over Frida’s. This affirms the idea that she is below her husband in terms of talent and is subordinate to him. Many of Frida’s paintings contain Frida herself; whether her face is the main subject of the painting or she is simply present within it. One such example of Frida being the center of attention in her own paintings is in Henry Ford Hospital, which she painted in 1932 shortly after suffering a miscarriage. In the painting, Frida is shown lying on a hospital bed naked, surrounded by blood. By making herself the primary focus of the artwork, she exposes herself and in doing so she becomes even more the center of attention. Centering herself in such a vulnerable way counters
This conflict between personal and artistic feminist values is visible in some of her other works showing childbirth. Henry Ford Hospital is an excellent example of Frida’s contradiction between the value of childbearing as a personal connection among women and mothers and her personal failure to produce children. Henry Ford Hospital, as previously mentioned, depicts Frida, lying on a hospital bed with blood around her, her stomach attached by red ribbons to six floating objects, including a human pelvis, a fetus, a model of the female reproductive system, and an orchid.The choice and placement of these objects represents the concept of childbearing and her inability to produce children. While the fetus and the model of the reproductive system are obvious symbols, the orchid, a flower, is a symbol of fertility. As well, in the same accident that caused the damage depicted in La Columna Rota, Frida’s pelvis was damaged in such a way that made her unable to bear children. This depiction of Frida’s experience with miscarriage is once again representative of the multifacetedness of femininity, as it demonstrates the complications of Frida’s relationship with childbearing, a historically feminine value. Frida once again explores the uniqueness of the female experience by contrasting