The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo is a film that celebrates the phenomenal art and experiences of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. This video is a documentary that provides a fictional forum that captures the different spheres of life in which the iconic painter left her indelible mark of creativity, ideology and general interest. Some of her reputed artworks such as self portrait in a velvet dress, self portrait dedicated to Leon Trotsky, self portrait with Stalin, and many others.
This documentary exposes Kahlo as a woman, and an artist and progressive ideologue that lived her life in a way that sought to capture the rhythms of life as conditioned by the experiences that she encountered (The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo). The narrator of this film is actress Rita Moreno. Acclaimed singer Lila Downs gives the entire piece a realistic tone by providing the voice of Frida Kahlo.
This video condenses all the aspects of life that defined her life in a manner that creates fresh meaning of the environmental, historical, psychological and ideological forces that governed the prolific contributions of her life. There are moments in this video when the forces seem as if conditioning the birth of a new ideology. The meaning that seems to come out is that of struggle against the oppressive and suppressive social order.
The voice that comes out in this video is one that speaks an admirable aspect of boldness that evokes the essence of struggle beauty and conquest. In the self portrait of a woman in velvet for instance, there seems an aspect of feminine power that is contained in the substance of the painting and which seems to target the very heart of patriarchy with the express intention to conquer and subdue.
The celebration of the feminine mystique, power, and beauty as represented in this film is basically an imagination of the struggles that Frida Kahlo launched against the Mexican patriarchal set up. The message as expressed in this video is to move the centre of gender balance from the definitions and values dictated, conditioned and controlled by the male gender so that the transaction of gender equity might be conducted on a balanced terrain.
The film also captures the political leaning of the painter. She is shown as sympathetic towards communism ideals. She endeavors to deify the historical figures of communism notably Stalin and Trotsky hence creating the impression that the struggling aspects of her life and art might have enjoyed the ideological patronage of communism.
Comparatively Guillermo Gomez performance artist seems to capture the symbolism of Mexican lifestyles in a fashion that situates them in performance art (Schechner 65). There is a clear impression that some of Gomez most notable arts combined the complicated influences between the Mexican lifestyles and the American cultural structures. The discourses of racism, cultural conflicts, cross-border relations, and love are the main factors that sum up the creative element in the works of Gomez.
One notable work that carries the message of the identity crisis of the Mexican civilization is the “The Couple in the Cage.” The message contained here is the problematic question of origin versus heritage. The process of redeeming the Mexican’s original identity lies in the active inversion of values and mores. On this score, the work of Gomez and Kahlo can be thought of as the supplementary and complimentary artistic representations of the Mexican life. The use of symbols to convey emotions, message and meaning is manifest in both works.
Works Cited
Schechner, Richard. Performance studies: an introduction. London: Routledge, 2002.
The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo.Dir. Stechler, Amy. Blockbuster, Netflix, 2005. Film.