We recently learned that poet Terri Brown-Davidson, whose poems are in Issue 5, is also a fantastic artist. We’re grateful to have some incredible artwork below, rendering the infamous artist in her multifaceted glory.
Check out five Frida Kahlo works below, and ten fun facts about the artist, then read Brown-Davidson’s Frida poems HERE, live now!
- Frida actually never had polio as a child. Her mother had a folic acid deficiency before giving birth, so Frida was born with spina bifida, which resulted in scoliosis.
- Frida was rumored to have had a fling with Georgia O'Keeffe. This event is rarely mentioned and may be apocryphal.
- When she was a student, Frida became fascinated with anatomy and considered becoming a doctor.
- As occurs in the movie FRIDA, Frida was indeed carried in her bed to her first solo exhibition, which took place at the photographer Lola Alvarez's gallery in 1953.
- According to some sources, when Frida was cremated in her coffin, the force of the flames and chemicals caused her to sit up and point.
- Most critics agree that the quality of Frida's paintings declined radically before her death, when she was painting still lifes rather than portraits.
- Many artists do not consider Frida Kahlo to have been a technically strong painter.
- Frida almost never smiled when having her photo taken because her teeth were nicotine-stained and broken.
- Although it was reported that Frida's death was caused by a pulmonary embolism, some have suspected that it was a suicide or an accidental overdose on pain killers prescribed to relieve her suffering following a leg amputation.
- Frida may have been horrified by the rampant commercialization of her life and image following her death.
Terri Brown-Davidson
Terri Brown-Davidson's poetry and fiction have appeared in hundreds of journals and anthologies, including Able Muse, Beloit Poetry Journal, Denver Quarterly, Hayden's Ferry Review, North American Review, Triquarterly, and Triquarterly New Writers (anthology). Her first book of poetry, The Carrington Monologues, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She's also received the AWP Intro Award in poetry, judged by Marilyn Nelson.
