International Womens Day March 8th 2013
International Women's Day March 8th 2013.
With a whole day dedicated to women once a year throughout the entire world, it's only right we choose some of our favourite female artists to lavish praise on. We all love a woman who flies the flag for the sisterhood.
I think all of us at Curious Duke Gallery would agree that Frida Kahlo is a true inspiration. We've picked only a few points of affection from our very long list;
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From an early age our Mexican friend had to contend with crippling Polio and a road accident in her teens that left her in a body cast for three months. And she just kept on going looking for the bright colours in everything. True perseverance.
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Whilst looking for the best in a not so pleasant situation, Frida was ambitious enough to take to painting in her sick bed. So ambitious, that she took it upon herself to track down the communist painter Diego Rivera working on a mural in Mexico's Public Ministry of Education to ask how good her work was. His encouragement soon led to marriage.
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Her artwork. It's an obvious one, but can we all take a moment to appreciate her paintings. The painfully vulnerable facial expressions, the symbolic confessions of her personal stories and the quite simply female conversation.
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And of the colours! This point is of paramount importance to me. The deep but creamy greens and tiny little rainbow specks of flowers are just fields of beauty.
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I will lower the tone, and admit one of the reasons I find Frida Kahlo so fantastic is her personal style, from her long colourful skirts to her ornate scarves plaited into her hair, I admire her freedom.
N.B Check out our very own Corinne Perry for a taste of Frida Kahlo's strong female characters and symbolic dress. Glitter sprinkled spines and hands clasping at fabric work perfectly to invoke robust sensitivity. Beautiful.
I can't finish this post without a little nudge towards Louise Bourgeois. Working up to the week before her death at the age of 98, this French- American sculptor taught us what it is to fulfil the role of wife and mother whilst continuing to follow her own ambitions to see world wide acclaim within her lifetime.
Take a leaf from our ladies inspiring books (both Frida Kahlo and Louise Bourgeois have collections of diary entries well worth reading) and enjoy this years Women's Day!
Stay curious- Sinéad x