Between the Borderline of Mexico and The United States Essay

The fact that Kahlo is in the center of the painting does not suggest any common ground, but rather speaks, it would seem, of some internal struggle within Kahlo as she sees her nation influenced and perhaps destroyed by the United States. She is clearly

Frida Kahlo paintings interpret personal, cultural, and political views. Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico. Her mother was from Mexican descent while her father was from German descent. Not only did Frida Kahlo painting represent her pain it also had Mexican imagery for example how she portrayed her paintings by painting self-portraits of herself wearing traditional Mexican clothing. Frida Kahlo liked one of the Aztecs patterns called Coatlicue and the pattern is considered a goddess feature.

One of my favorite art works is La Molendera, or The Woman Grinding Maize, by Diego Rivera. The medium of this painting is oil paint on a horizontal canvas that measures 106.7 x 121.9 cm. When I first see this painting, the woman dressed in white with her hair split in two braids, grinding maize on a stone, is what stands out to me the most. It is traditional for women in Mexico that make tortillas to grind the maize, corn, on a rock. In the background I see three already made tortillas baking on top of a ceramic dish. The colors used in the atmosphere are cool toned, which gives you a sense of calm and a soothing sensation. The main colors used here

Its vibrant blue color puts the viewer at ease, making the painting appear to be a tranquil and peaceful scene. As the observer’s eyes drift downward, they see the chaos as the Texans slowly lose the battle. At the top of the left building, a Mexican flag flutters in the wind, and to the right, another Mexican flag raises as the Texas flag is tossed to the ground. Through all this, at the bottom of the painting, hope is still shown: the Texans will not give up. Patriotism is shown as although they are outnumbered and their flag is lowered, they are still fighting. On the right side, it shows a man much larger than the others, shooting a man holding a Mexican flag. This figure represents patriotism in the physical form, and the observer can assume this man is an important figure in the battle of the

Throughout the picture Diego Rivera’s palette consists of an ample array of reds, greens, and white as the dominant colors. One can sustain he employed these pigments. Due to the fact they are the colors of the national flag. The color white represents the purity of the hearts of the Mexican people; the red represents the blood lost during the multiple wars that Mexicans fought, until they conquered their independence. Finally, the color green represents the hope that Mexico, as a free

People may refer to Frida Kahlo as the lady with the unibrow, but others refer to her as one the greatest Mexican painters. She was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyocoan Mexico. When she was about 6 she was diagnosed with polio which is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, or even death. (Crosta 1) Due to polio she was bedridden for 9 months. Frida attended the National Preparatory School where she first noticed Diego Rivera who is a famous muralist. At this time she fell in love with another man Alejandro Gomez Arias. She and Alejandro were on a trip when a monumental moment happened which will change her life forever…. (Frida Kahlo Biography 1)

Mexican artists, more than most other artists in the Americas, exemplify the political and social obligations of artists. According to Soltes (2011), several Mexican artists of the early twentieth century were inspired by the revolutions and political unrest occurring in Mexico, which was reflected in their work. Diego Rivera (1886-1957) considered one of Mexico’s Renaissance artists, influenced by European avant-garde style, painted Zapatista Landscape (1915). This work was done as Rivera’s tribute to the Mexican revolutionary “Emiliano Zapata who had played a key role in the 1910 Mexican Revolution that had overthrown the then President Porfirio Diaz” (Soltes, L43, 4:42). Soltes (2011) describes this work: “very clearly we see a rifle; we see it's a sarape, together with a very stylized backdrop of water, mountains and sky, punctuated by a work that seems largely to emulate the synthetic cubist style of Picasso and Braque that we've earlier discussed. One has the allusion indeed, that we are looking at a collage of geometric forms made of diverse materials imposed against that background of vague sea and sky”(L43, 4:13).

The above image is a painting by Antonio Ruiz and is called “El sueño de la Malinche” meaning “The Dream of Malinche”. It depicts a Mexican town within the Aztec Empire, that is built upon a resting woman named Malinche. The image depicts the woman sleeping with the the Mexican city lying on her, therefore with one toss or turn being catastrophic to the city, and is further depicted to have lightning striking her head, which means to further risk the Mexican City being destroyed by Malinche’s action.

In both artworks, conflict between cultures can be seen through symbolism. In Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait: On the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States symbolism can be seen by the boundary stone on which she stands. The boundary stone is connected directly to a machine on the U.S. side by a cord. The machine on the U.S. side is also shown to have a cord that connects to the roots of the plants on the Mexico side of the painting. What can be inferred through this visual is that Frida Kahlo is powered by both the U.S. and Mexico, but her roots are in Mexico. Frida also has added a flag on the right side of the painting to represent the U.S. and she is holding a flag with the Mexican

Not only have I seen Rivera’s painting but also another Mexican artist, for example; Jose Clemente Orozco and Frida Kahlo. I saw their paintings at the Museum of Art in San Diego. I cannot remember what pictures I have seen on that day last time I saw it. One of the things I realize is the way they represent their art. They express their past and their present, the rich culture of the Mexican history, the way they express their ideology and their political view of their time, and their surrealist dream in case of Frida Kahlo. One of the remarkable ways they express is by putting their expression on the wall also known as

The background tells the morbid story of the Spanish Conquistadors facilitating the oppression of the natives not only into slavery but also into religious submission. A religious service is depicted in the left potion of the mural. Indians are shown being whipped and ultimately hung. The impression given is the Indians are branded property bought and traded. Cortes appears several times in the mural once receiving payment or tribute. In the other appearance, Cortes looks powerful on arrival. While in another corner, he is sickly and weak. The animals also contribute to the vicious and vivid imagery

Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico City on July 7, 1907. Though she wanted many to believe that she was born in 1910, the year of the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. Her father was a photographer of Hungarian Jewish decent, and her mother was Spanish and Native American. From an early age Frida's life would be marked by years of physical suffering. At the age of six she was stricken with polio, this left her right leg to appear much thinner than the other, as well as leaving her with a limp. Though she suffered dearly as a child, she was fearless and brave. She was also extremely intelligent.

In conclusion, West Mexico has a few common thread running through their works of art, one of them happens to be the use the tri-color pallet, which we found covering the Standing Male Figure and in a color scale from lightest too darkest on the Seating Female Figure. As well as the meaning of nudity, in the male sculpture it represents authority and in the female sculpture it signifies fertility. Lastly, art for art sake, what if we are reading too much into these pieces what if they just served no actual purpose but just to look good and adorn a home. Mesoamerica a mixing of styles from earlier civilizations that have come before, there is always going to be an inklings of prior civilization that have integrated into newer civilizations and

This image may interpret parts of Diego Revers past where he was apart of the Mexican Communist party in 1992 to 1999. He was beginning to form ties with mexico which the party disapproved of. He was able to explore his own passions and became well liked in the United States. The people who opposed his ideas asked for his art to be removed. He was a very popular artist but, also popular in those who disagreed with his views.

Fully integrating himself in his work, the setting is reminiscent of Picasso’s homeland, Spain. The desolate landscape background, empty except for the figures, serves as a stark reminder