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Frida Kahlo


Inspired by Rivera's work, Kahlo adopted his use of broad, simplified color areas and a deliberately naive style in her paintings. Like Rivera's work, she wanted her paintings to affirm her Mexican identity, and she frequently used subject matter from Mexican archaeology and folk art.
             Kahlo and Rivera soon became involved, as she joined the Young Communist League, which was founded by Rivera. This brought Kahlo and Rivera closer and led to their marriage, which unfortunately proved to be a problematic one. Kahlo lamented that she suffered through two accidents in her life: one was the bus accident, the other being her marriage to Rivera. Through their marriage, they both had extramarital affairs, and in fact several of Kahlo's relationships were with other women. To make matters worst, Kahlo's fertility was also affected due to the bus accident, which caused her to have three miscarriages. Kahlo and Rivera were divorced for a year but eventually got back together. During their stormy association, however, they served as the center of an international intellectual circle. Their political activism continued, as it was unaffected by the state of their marriage, while both Kahlo and Rivera used their artistic talents to express their social and political views.
             Even though Kahlo's life was full of pain and misery, she never stopped painting. Her painting was a way to escape the isolation and the pain; it completed her life and acted as a medicine. She once told a friend "My painting carried with it the message of pain. Painting completed my life. I lost three children. Painting substituted for all this." (Ashton). As mentioned previously, Kahlo primarily depicted her personal experience. She frequently focused on the painful aspects of her life, using graphic imagery to express her meaning, which many people consider to be violent and disturbing. The turbulence of her marriage is shown in the weeping and physically injured self-portraits that she painted when she felt rejected by Rivera.


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