Saturday, February 15, 2020

Frida Kahlo and Surrealism Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Frida Kahlo and Surrealism Movement - Essay Example The essay "Frida Kahlo and Surrealism Movement" states the surrealism movement and Frida Kahlo. Frida unconsciously painted from a surrealist style, though not a disciple or even admirer of surrealism- a result maybe due to her dramatic nature and extreme emotional and physical pain that she suffered. She often experimented with styles, icons and motifs and her work reflected strong sexual overtones, though she had no special explanations for her methods and once said "I put on the canvas whatever comes into my mind." Her paintings often shocked people due to their sexual boldness and exquisite starkness, her ruthless representation of herself in her paintings like ‘My Birth’, ‘What Water Gave Me’ ‘Henry Ford Hospital’ and ‘The Two Fridas’ are emotionally breathtaking. In 1953, when Frida Kahlo had her first and only solo exhibition in Mexico during her lifetime, a local critic wrote: 'It is impossible to separate the life and work of this extraordinary person. Her paintings are her biography.' Frida Kahlo was a passionate, dramatic and clever woman, the product of a Hungarian –Jewish father and a devout Catholic of Spanish-Mexican Indian decent mother. She was closest to her father who shared her interest in art but had a cold relationship with her mother. This potent cultural fusion, plus being surrounded by women (three sisters of her own and two half sisters) and witnessing the Mexican revolution, seems to have had a great hand in shaping Frida’s personality early on.

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Cultures. African Culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cultures. African Culture - Research Paper Example This persuasive essay looks at the African culture and its significance. The African continent consists of two main cultures, which are the Sub-Saharan Africa and North African cultures. These cultures have a number of ethnic, tribes, social groups. One of the main features of this way of life is the large number of cultural groups where some nations can have twenty or more ethnic groups, and the variety of their principles. The African culture is varied and diverse. Like other cultures in the world, it has been obstructed upon by both external and internal forces, which in turn affect it negatively and positively. Their art, music, literature, and African cultural customs of Africa have motivated interest and admiration all over the world (Barakat79). The African continent has a rich custom of arts and crafts. Their arts and crafts observe manifestation in an assortment of leather arts, woodcarvings, brass, and other metal works. These art and crafts consist of sculptures, woodwork paintings ceremonial, pottery, religious ornaments, and other dresses. According to Barakat, African art must be innovative and in being revolutionary, the artists ought to be collective, functional and committed to their works (80). Barakat continues to note that art is socially functional within the society (81). The African culture places a lot of emphasis on the appearance and jewelry, which has endured an important individual accompaniment. Most pieces of this jewelry are crafted using cowry shells and metallic materials (Namulundah 23). In the same way, the masks are crafted using elaborate objects and are significant part of the culture. During ceremonies, these masks are used as symbols of spirits and ancestors, deities and mythological characters (Namulundah 23). Certain themes are significant in the African arts and crafts, and these themes keep on recurring from one art to another. They include men carrying weapons, women carrying children, men posing as hunters with anim als on their shoulders. Pairs may symbolize ancestors, society founder, married people, or twins (Namulundah 23). The couple subject rarely displays intimacy of the married people. The mother carrying a child or children as argued by Namulundah shows strong aspiration of the African women to give birth to her own children (23). The theme is also an agent of woman mars and the communities as her children. On the other hand, the man carrying a weapon or animal subject represents principle and power (Namulundah 23). An alien or a stranger may be someone from other ethnic groups or somebody from a different nation, and accurate representation of the stranger signifies fairly better gap from the stranger (Namulundah, 23). Oral presentation is very important in African arts and crafts. African oral literature includes arts like origin fables, myths, history, folklore, lineage, folk therapies that are very common with the African continent. Initially this information was not recorded in wr itten materials, but instead passed from one generation to another through word of mouth. Storytelling and singing are very common and highly appreciated in this society. Just like other human culture, the African religion and folklore represents different aspects of social issues within the African community (Namulundah 21). Similarly, like all other civilization and cultures, myths have been presented in different parts of the African continent. Religion and culture share space and deeply rooted in the African cultures. For example, the Ethiopian culture consists of their African culture and informs dietary customs together with rites and rituals (Namulundah 21). The pygmy myth