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Artist Cheat-Sheet: Frida Kahlo

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 · 6 Comments

About the Artist Cheat-Sheet Series: Perhaps you’ve lamented the fact that your love of Picasso won’t help you in the pursuit of living with art, but with a bit of guidance you can start to develop your taste on current art based on your preferences of “famous” art.

In this series I match major artists of the 19th or 20th century with current independent artists who share the artist’s style, subject, tone, etc. You’ll no longer have the excuse of not knowing any current, affordable artists you like!

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter from the first half of the 20th century who I consider a feminist artist. Her work is highly personal, exploring the often female subjects of pain and immobility (from a devastating streetcar accident at age 16), love, loss, infertility and heartbreak. Frida was a communist and was highly involved in politics during her lifetime (she even notoriously had an affair with political refuge, Leon Trotsky). Her life was full of drama, passion and physical and psychological pain, and these themes underscore much of her work as an artist.

Current artists whose work is reminiscent of Kahlo’s…

Megan Campbell

Common themes: nature, primitivism, love, ceremony.

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Elsa Mora

Common themes: women, symbolism (heart, snakes), body parts as living entities.

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Caitlin Keegan

Common themes: traditional women’s work, gender roles.

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.Jennifer Parks

Common themes: vulnerability, adornment, masks, death.

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Lily Piri

Common themes: vulnerability, our relationship with personal possessions.

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Olaf Hajek

Common themes: nature, the exotic, primitivism, sadness.

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Julia Selin

Common themes: motherhood, life, the human body.

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Rachel Bone

Common themes: Women’s complicated relationships with each other, adornment (patterns).

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Caitlin Quiet

Common themes: love, heartbreak, femininity, memories.

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Amy Kligman

Common themes: dreams, the ornamental/symbolic (flowers, cake).

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Iviva Olenick

Common themes: traditional women’s work, gender roles, female suffering.

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Pia Bramley

Common themes: the female body, everyday life.

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Explore previous Artist Cheat-Sheets:

Keith Haring

Wassily Kandinsky

Roy Lichtenstein

Gustav Klimt

Georgia O’Keeffe

Tags: Art

6 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Katy // Jun 22, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    I love this column! Great choices, I especially like Megan Campbell’s work!

  • 2 Kate // Jun 22, 2010 at 3:51 pm

    Thanks, Katy! I’m digging Campbell’s work too. I had bookmarked her website but didn’t really check it out until recently, for this series. It’s always great to rediscover artists.

  • 3 Esti // Jun 23, 2010 at 3:37 am

    Your picks are really good. I didn’t know Megan Campbell’s or Amy Kligman’s work. It’s beautiful.

  • 4 Elsita // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:12 am

    What a great idea, I love this post 🙂

  • 5 Kate // Jun 23, 2010 at 11:49 am

    Thanks, Esti and Elsita!

  • 6 Artist Cheat-Sheet: Rene Magritte // Jul 26, 2010 at 4:41 pm

    […] Artist Cheat-Sheets: Frida Kahlo – Keith Haring – Wassily Kandinsky – Roy Lichtenstein – Gustav Klimt – […]

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