frida, taymor, and goldenthal...

so, i am sitting here at my house...wine glass in hand (with a decent cabernet), script in hand (working on a cutting for an upcoming project), listening to elliot goldenthal's soundtrack for frida as i work...an unbelievable movie. a movie directed by one of my heroes...julie taymor...who i fully intend to be when i grow up.which reminds me of the movie...i grew up hearing all about friday kahlo from my mother, who worked with several people associated with the menil and other private collectors around town. every time i would hear the artist's name spoken, it was almost with a hint of jest...the self-deprecating artist whose self-portraits defied our notions of beauty, of self, of identity... i remember, when my mother brought home a book on kahlo's work, looking through it with a degree of horror. granted, i was only a child, but i found the images haunting, disturbing...


i had little reason to re-examine her work, so for years, my conception of frida kahlo was a negative one. but how thrilling was it to see taymor's movie and her brilliant imagery...to finally have some insight into kahlo's state of mind when she painted those pieces, the pieces ingrained in my mind as a child as the stuff of horror films...




and how funny that my absolute favorite place in mexico city was the area in which she lived... coyoacan.



thank you, frida kahlo, for being the visionary you were...and julie taymor, for being the woman capable of illuminating her...i no longer look at these works with disgust, but rather, appreciation for their honesty and rawness.