Frida Kahlo Has Landed

I don't know how I managed to stay away from knowing more about the life of Frida Kahlo. I guess I could chalk it up to being too busy learning about the lives of other visual artists. I would look at her paintings and not see them, really see them. Why? Because I would be looking through a lens of over-saturation, of having seen too many times her brows and her 'stache, of knowing nothing but that there are Frida coffee mugs, Frida scarves, Frida matching hand towels.

For years her popularity kept me from going in whole-hog, but a couple of weeks ago I was visiting Seattle Art Museum and came across a book by Andrea Kettenmann filled with Frida's paintings, plus a good deal about her life, for only $15 (Taschen 2012), so I bought it (it's a gorgeous hardcover book. I can't believe it was only $15!).

And now I am afoot with her vision, her genius, and her passion, as well as her pain and suffering. What an amazing person/woman/artist/writer/inspirer of many.

On top of finding inspiration and learning much about Mexican history, I guess I'm also learning a lesson: don't dismiss artists who have cult followings.