Open Arts Object: Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait along the Border Line between Mexico and the USA, 1932
In this short film, Dr Warren Carter discusses the 1932 Self-Portrait on the Borderline between Mexico and the United States by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The artist produced many self-portraits during her lifetime but it was those that she painted whilst in the United States in the early 1930s that are perhaps the most fascinating. Dr Carter provides a close iconographic reading of Kahlo’s painting before looking at what it might say about the complex relationship between Mexico and its more powerful northern neighbour during the depths of the Great Depression. He then finishes by looking at the work’s contemporary relevance in light of ongoing political debates about the Mexican/United States border, one of the most significant international border zones in the world.
This film is featured in NEC's online A-level History of Art curriculum.
Related resources:
Open Learn short course on Art and the Mexican Revolution
This film is also available on our youtube channel
Related links:
A344 Art and its Global Histories Open University undergraduate module
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