Quotes from the Little Thinkers (4 of 16): Frida Kahlo

Greetings to our blog-readers in Denmark, Italy and Hungary (we seem to be more popular in Europe than we are here in American, well..........perhaps!).

Today we quote the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who died at a relatively young age when she was 47. There is a very popular restaurant in Antigua, Guatemala, called Frida's. Apparently, getting a seat for a Duke University men's basketball game in Durham, NC, is easier than getting a seat at Frida's.

Recently, we saw a Frida Kahlo Little Thinker doll alongside the likes of Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali at the Denver Museum (if memory serves us correctly) where there is a currently an exhibit of French impressionist art (ie. Claude Monet) until Feb. 9th.

One may also be able to find a Frida Kahlo plush toy at the Corcoran Art Museum's gift shop in Washington, DC, where an exhibit entitled "Mia Feur: An Unkindness" in underway. The museum's web site describes that exhibit as 'an examination of the relationships between human infrastructure and the natural world."

Here is our quote from Frida Kahlo:

"I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality."

 
http://www.corcoran.org

http://www.denverartmuseum.org

http://www.fridakahlo.com

http://www.fridakahlofans.com

http://www.visitguatemala.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Salvador Dali

Today, we continue to quote famous people from the 16 countries represented in the 2012 Euro Cup championships in Poland and Ukraine, which got underway on Friday. Originally, we were going to quote just eight people from eight of the teams, but we figured those of you visiting us from Croatia and Portugal, two national teams in Euro 2012, might feel snubbed.

We thus turn our attention to the great Spanish surreal painter Salvador Dali (1904-1989) who is perhaps best-known for "The Persistence of Memory" (1931), which is the painting with melting clocks. Dali is also one of the people who has his very own plush toy from the Unemployed Philosophers Guild, which retails for circa $17.95. This month, we are also quoting individuals who have plush toys made in their image as was the case with Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter who was the subject of our last quote entry.

A museum dedicated to Dali's works is located in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Over the weekend, Spain tied Italy 1-1 in the team's first Euro 2012 game.

Here is Dali's quote:

"I don't do drugs. I am drugs."

http://www.thedali.com

http://www.virtualdali.com


http://www.philosophersguild.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Frida Kahlo

Greetings to those of you in Thailand, Greece and Norway who have been visiting us lately.

Today, we start a series of quotes from persons associated with the Unemployed Philosphers Guild, a toy/novelty production company which offers everything from Russian Leon Trotsky (who was friends with Kahlo) to Albert Einstein. Today, there are advertising a Leonardo Da Vinci plush toy for $17.95.

The manufacturer also offers a plush toy of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, pictured here, for the same price, and there is also a Frida Kahlo puppet for $5.95.

Here is Frida's quote; it is reference to her relationship with fellow Mexican painter Diego Rivera:

"There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst."

www.philosophersguild.com

www.fridakahlo.com

http://www.fridakahlofans.com

Quote of the Week/Day- Frida Kahlo

We continue our month-long series of quips from famous Latin Americans with a quote from the legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), who died a mere week after her 47th birthday, but she had been ill for a very long time before that.

When I was in Antigua, Guatemala, back in 2005, I noticed there was a trendy place called Frida's, which had like a two-hour wait. I've gathered from other people who have visited Guatemala that essentially it is easier to get a bar stool at 419 West, a popular gathering place in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., during happy hour on Fridays.

Here is the quote from Frida:

"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly."

SIDEBAR: It's that time of the year again. Actually, I was not thinking about Christmas, but rather that the popular funky Chapel Hill, NC-based band Southern Culture on the Skids will be performing their annual hometown charity show on Saturday night at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro (a suburb of Chapel Hill); the band also plays on Friday night at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, NC.

Quote of the Week- Leon Trotsky

Today, we quote the Russian, Marxist philosopher/revolutionary figure Leon Trotsky
(1879-1940) who lived a life that would be worth of a 985-page biography that we have no time to read.

Instead, we can tell you a few things we already or learned from Wikipedia about this major figure of the October Revolution and Russian Civil War:

-Lead opposition to Joseph Stalin

-Ideas formed the basis for Trotskyism

-Exiled to Turkey in 1929, he spent four years of his life on Buyukada, the largest of the four Prince's Islands off the coast of Istanbul. This period of his life was the subject of a documentary film called "Exile in Buyukada" (2000, Turkey), which might still be available in America from Facets in Chicago.

-In 1935, Trotsky moved to Mexico where he befriended the famous artist couple of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Trotsky went on to have an affair with Frida, but amazingly enough Diego was not the one who tried to kill him.

-Trotsky was however succefully killed by a Spanish man named Ramon Mercader, who was working as a Soviet agent, at his home in the village of Coyocan, Mexico, in
1940.

-On film, Trotsky was played by Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush in the film "Frida."

Here is our quote from Trotsky, which pretty much indicates why supposedly smart people, like John McCain (note: I am not a Republican, but McCain is a lot smarter than many in his party) chose Sarah Palin as a running mate:

"If we had more time for discussion we should probably have made a great many more mistakes."

MONDAY LEFTOVERS-In our last entry, we talked about the Duke-UNC game for the ACC tourney championship. As everyone in Durham and Chapel Hill knows, Duke won the game 78-58, but that might be news for those of you in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.

In my hometown of Roanoke, Va., many people are unhappy today because the Virginia Tech Hokies were snubbed by the NCAA selction committee. "The Roanoke Times" quotes Hokies' coach Seth Greenberg as saying that 'there might be someone with a strong personality who views the Hokies as a fungus.'

We noted in another previous entry that Sofia Coppola's new film "Somewhere" is playing at the Galaxy Cinema in Cary, NC; the film is also playing up the road at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC. "Marie Antoinette," the film she directed before "Somewhere," will be shown on IFC on March 30 at 5:00 p.m.

Lastly and obviously, when we posted an entry which mentioned the devastating tsunami in Japan there were only 60 confirmed casualties. Tragically, that number now appears headed to top the 10,000 mark in the city of Miaygi alone. Anyone who wished to help can go www.redcross.org

Media outlets, such as MSNBC, are warning people to be fully aware of scams trying to take advantage of the tragedy.

Quote of the Week- Georgia O'Keefe

Today, we continue our Quotes of the Week series for December with quips from famous artists. On our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," we have a quote from the late Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, whose work was exhibited in Berlin, Germany, earlier this year.

For this entry, we quote the late American painter Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986) whose work can be regularly at the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe, N. Mex. Currently, there is also an exhbit of her work at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio.

Here is a quote from O'Keefe which makes me think of a Maureen Dowd book that makes fun of men which I almost got for a female friend today, before realizing it might be indict me (as well as other members of my tribe!):

"I feel there is something unexplored about a woman that only a woman can explore."

Quote of the Day- Frida Kahlo

I must profess when my girlfriend Louisa (pse) left me for an unemployed car mechanic in Duluth, Minn., that she meet on the Internet, she did cite the fact that I spent way too much time blogging as a factor!

So, it should be no surprise to those who know me well that I am devoting 32 quotes from 32 people, both alive and dead, from the 32 countries in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which starts (yikes?!) tomorrow with a game between the host country and Mexico that will air at 9:30 a.m. in Boston and Miami (and the rest of the American east coast as well as places like Toronto, Canada).

Today, we feature a quote from the late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) who was the subject of the film "Frida" (2002) which starred Mexican actress Salma Hayek in the title role.

Frida is popular not in Mexico but throughout Central America as there is a popular restaurant named Frida's in Antigua, Guatemala, that we couldn't get into because there was a long, long line waiting outside (?!) when we there in 2005. We've since read from travel writers that many Americans who go to Guatemala have trouble getting a seat in this restaurant, which is known for its cocktails and quesadillas.

As for the painter Frida, she was known for her Realism, Symbolism and Surrealism. She was also a bisexual and a communist, which made her life, as tragic as it was, even more interesting!

She was married to fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. And, she had affairs with the African-American singer Josephine Baker as well as the Russian socialist leader Leon Trotsky, who was murdered in 1940 while in exile in Mexico. Trotsky also lived for a while in Turkey. My late Turkish aunt happened to spend her summer residence on the island of Buyukada off the coast of Istanbul where Trotsky lived in the late '20s and early '30s before heading off to Mexico.

Frida also suffered from massive injuries that she suffered from a bus accident which happened when she was 18. Those injuries haunted her for the rest of her life. She died under mysterious circumstances, and there is much speculation that she committed suicide.

An exhibit of Frida's paintings is currently taking place at a museum in Berlin, Germany--- a city where one can also see Knut the Polar Bear (at the Berlin Zoo, of course!).

Here is today's quote from Frida:

"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?"