Humber School for Writers Grad, Margaret Lindsay Holton

    

   Delighted to be profiled in Humber Alumni News! 

For the FULL INTERVIEW  -  that includes a timely digression on the designing and making of 'The Four Canadian Fireside Chairs' as seen below - 

The article also mentions a few of the book projects I've done over the years ...  Note, links wont work on the screengrab below. - If looking for my most recent title, TRILLIUM, go to Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2q0iEeL /  - Older commercial titles can be found via my Amazon author page. Other MLH art & poetry book projects can be found HERE.
 

Finally, minor point, it is not clear in the article that I was a 'Graduate' student at the Humber School for Writers. I had already finished my Bachelor of Arts years before at the University of Toronto. I was most fortunate to receive the President's Scholarship to understudy in the 'Graduate Creative Writing Program' with 2x Giller prize winner, M.G.Vassanji.

Noteworthy nugget for die-hard Canadian literary historians - I still have all his notes!  

Frida Kahlo at Home - Book Review by M.L.Holton

Review pre-amble: Recently, I was invited to review a book about artist, Frida Kahlo. The book itself, the production of it, was splendid. But the more I considered the content, the more I found it was raising more questions about the artist and her work then it settled ... To wit:

Artist Frida Kahlo's Blood Bath at Casa Azul -
Book Review by M.L.Holton 

Review of 'Frida Kahlo At Home, by Suzanne Barbezat' - by M.L.Holton 
Published by Frances Lincoln Limited. 160pp, illustrated, 8.9" x 10.2", hard-cover. 
All images reproduced from the publication.  ISBN: 9780711237322   US $35 / CDN $45



Little known beyond the art circles of her own lifetime, Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo's ghoulish self-portraits throw a very long shadow today. This is surprising, given that Kahlo painted only 200 artworks during her entire life. One third of those works were her broody, introspective self-portraits, often depicting herself in a state of physical or psychological suffering, with the majority of them amplifying mutilated blood-gushing body parts.

Most contemporary international art critics and collectors are aware of these disturbing blood-soaked self-portraits. Yet, for all her notoriety of today, (with her equally uncompromising full-frontal uni-brow stare-downs), it is intriguing to note that there was only one exhibition of her art work, ever, while she was alive, in her home and native land of Mexico.

So, how did the current 'Cult of Frida' develop?

Travel writer and anthropologist, Suzanne Barbezat, provides substantial clues in her heavily illustrated coffee-table book, entitled, "Frida Kahlo at Home'. It is a well-documented treasure trove of Kahlo ephemera: with striking interior and exterior photographs of Kahlo's primary residence, La Casa Azul, aka The Blue House. The book also contains intriguing snippets of personal letters and memorabilia between herself and her husband, Diego Rivera - as well as her assorted lovers, including Russian communist revolutionary leader, Leon Troksky, and the American-Japanese sculptor, Isamu Noguchi. Many chronological reproductions of Kahlo's work flush out this tribute.

As the book press release states: "La Casa Azul, now one of the most visited museums in Mexico City, was the birthplace of the artist, Frida Khalo. It was the home where she grew up, where she lived with her husband, Diego Rivera, and where she died. She also spent significant periods of time in the house convalescing: first, when she contracted polio as a small child and again at the age of 18, after the trolley accident, which left her critically injured. Confined to her bed in casts and orthopedic devices and in constant pain, the bedroom at La Casa Azul is where Frida began to paint the vibrant and unflinching portraits and self-portraits that would make her name'".

But, Who Was She? Frida Kahlo, christened Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderon, was born in Mexico to a German father, Carl Wilhelm Kahlo, (who changed his name to Guillermo Kahlo when he emigrated), and a Spanish-Mexican mother, Matilde, (his second wife.).  She was raised with certain privileges, attending a private German prep school, and receiving a pious Catholic indoctrination via her very devout mother.

Photo of Frida, taken by her father, 1926.

Frida only went 'native' after she began her lifelong association with famed Mexican artist and self-proclaimed atheist, Diego Rivera. First, as his student, then later, as his wife. They were married in 1929. She was 22, he was 42.

Diego had already built a substantial artistic persona as a 'Mexican nationalist'. He was very vocal about the class struggle and revolutionary war that defined his nation. Magnetic, and a polarizing provocateur of the labour movement, his public mural work amplified his knowledge of Mayan traditions and mythologies, pre-and-post colonial-revolutionary atrocities, and his abiding interest in the political struggles of the working-class.

It was he who assembled the pre-Colombian art collection that now resides in Anahuacalli, their 'country house'. (This house was completed, after they both died, by architect Juan O'Gorman and Diego's daughter, from a previous marriage.) It was he who was "intent on ensuring his and Frida's legacy." This, even after he married his long-time mistress, Emma Hurtrado, a year after Kahlo's death. "He created at trust through the Bank of Mexico, leaving The Blue House and Anahuacalli, as well as their contents, to the people of Mexico." He appointed another long time female friend, wealthy arts patron, Dolores Olmedo, (and one of his earliest models), as director of that trust.

Dolores and Frida were child-hood rivals. Dolores often bought Rivera's work, and only bought Frida's work at Diego's request. "She openly did not care for Frida or her work." Nonetheless, the trust was established, and after a modest re-staging, the Frida Kahlo House/Museum, aka The Casa Azul or Blue House, opened to the public in 1958. 

Twelve years after her death, a low-budget documentary, entitled, 'The Life and Death of Frida Kahlo as Told to Karen and David Crommie' made its debut at the San Francisco Film Festival. In 1983, a weighty biography was written by art historian, Hayden Herrera. In 2002, famed Mexican actress, Salma Hayek, co-produced, and starred in, the Oscar-winning feature film, 'Frida'. 

Today, Frida Kahlo has been whole-heartedly 'adopted' by a fervently nationalistic Mexican government and citizenry. They now claim her as their own. Kahlo's distinctive self-portrait, dressed as she invariably was, in the traditional Tehuana costume of an indigenous maiden, has even appeared on Mexican currency. She has achieved iconic, near 'saintly', national status.

Who, then, was Frida's husband, Diego Rivera? Diego was born to two middle-class teachers in 1886 in Guanajuato. His mother was a devoted Catholic mestiza (part European, part Indian) and his father, a criollo (Mexican of European descent). When he was six, his liberal-minded family moved from Guanajuato to Mexico City. Rivera became a Marxist, and a member of  the Mexican Communist Party.

In 1907, (the year Frida was born), Diego Rivera was continuing his arts and political studies in Europe. He met and became friends with several famous artists of the day, including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Piet Mondrian. He studied Cubism in Spain and toured Italian frescos. He developed associations with European and Russian 'social justice' revolutionaries active in the Soviet Union. He met and befriended Leon Trotsky.

Rivera's first serious government commission, in 1923, was for a series of murals for the Secretaria de Educacion Publica in Mexico City. This work soon established his prominence in what would become known as the Mexican Mural Renaissance. Painting in a style deeply indebted to pre-Colombian culture, he created large complex panoramic images of Mexican daily life. As he wrote, "When art is true, it is one with nature. This is the secret of primitive art and also of the art of the masters—Michelangelo, Cézanne, Seurat, and Renoir. The secret of my best work is that it is Mexican." Raised radically, he soon became 'Mexican' to the core - and Frida adored him.

 

Detail from 'Freida & Diego' (1931). She called herself Freida, not Frida then.

Their love story was tempestuous from the start. Kahlo, younger by two decades, also joined the Mexican Communist Party, and, though petite and frail in comparison, she soon became an enamored disciple of this, as she wrote, "Pot-Bellied Genius". She courted him when he was still married to his second wife, and he, impressed by her seduction and burgeoning artistic sensibilities, succumbed. Their subsequent marriage was rift with upsets, break-downs, philandering (on both sides), divorce and a re-marriage.

Over time though, they did hold on to each other. When Rivera died he wanted his cremated ashes blended with hers. This never happened. But, in keeping with both of their passionate and rather narcissistic personalities, it remained a 'romantic ideal'. .... Some could say that Rivera understood the necessity of 'roots' far better then she did. 

He undoubtedly understood her dual-identity crisis. He had struggled with this himself, experimenting with European styles of painting, before embracing, whole-hog, his Mexican lineage. Frida, on the other hand, struggled, played the role well enough, but suffered. Always suffering. Diego would, as example, have her pose, dressed in peasant garb, for his murals. She, educated, erudite and well-traveled, would pose.

Detail from Rivera's 1940 mural,  'Pan American Unity', showing Frida in native dress.

Clearly though, she was no peasant.

Truth be told, fabricating and mythologizing their lives was not beyond either of them. Frida re-invented her birth date to coincide with the National Revolution. Rivera laid claim to fighting with Zapata. Both stories are untrue.

  

The sole exhibition of Kahlo's painted works in Mexico City was organized near the end of her life at the National Arts Institute by an old family friend and school mate of Frida's. Not to miss the occasion, Kahlo arrived in an ambulance. She was wheeled into the exhibit on a bed.

She died several years later, in July of 1954, aged 47: some suspect of suicide. It is common knowledge that during the last years of her life she lived on pain-killers. Her deteriorating condition, including the amputation of her leg, severely diminished her focus to produce much new work. Instead, she wrote and drew in journals. Many are now preserved in the Blue House.

Kahlo's art constantly shows the struggles she endured through various stages of 'identity'. After the Revolution, in 1922, when she was fifteen, she was one of only thirty-five girls admitted to the newly formed National Preparatory School. She studied the natural sciences there in the hope of advancing into medicine. However, after her childhood bout of polio, (that shortened and damaged her leg), and the later bus crash, (that battered her body, leaving her spine, pelvis and collar bone broken), she was often sickly and bed-ridden. It was during the latter recovery, while convalescing, that she began to experiment with paints.

Her self-portraits display the conflicting realities of two opposing world views. Euro-petticoats and hand-plucked lace versus Mexican-peasant garb and hand-woven cotton. Quite often there is gushing blood everywhere.

Here's one horrific example:

A Few Small Nips', (1935) by Frida Kahlo. Now in the collection of the Dolores Olemedo Museum, the original Trustee of Rivera's Estate. Note Frida's euro-style shoe.

Looking at the reproductions of her paintings in this book, it is apparent that Kahlo created a kind of hybrid and, to my eye, pseudo, folk-art. Some art historians and personal friends, like French founder of the Surrealist movement, Andre Breton, tried to place her 'style' into the Surrealist camp. (He arranged her first exhibition in France.) But it is a label that she herself vehemently rejected. Mostly, her work was private and obsessively autobiographical.

Detail, 'Love Embrace of the Universe' by Frida Kahlo (1949).

Now, in 2017, from the vantage point of Canada's current cultural perspective, (especially in the wake of the recent Joseph Boyden 'native ancestry' imbroglio), Frida Kahlo could undoubtedly be dragged over hot coals for so openly impersonating, expropriating and interpreting the indigenous culture within the boundaries of the country where she was born and raised. Rather then revered as a national cultural icon, she could just as easily be vilified as a 'Settler Expropriator'.

Many post-colonialists would unequivocally agree: both she and Diego were expropriating Settlers. But, within the ever-spinning politics of the 'Greater Good of Nationalism', most Mexican nationalists - evolving within their own young democracy - would argue that, no, she - and he - were not expropriating anything. As artists of their day, they represented the new and emerging Mexico, freed from the shackles of early colonialism and class servitude.

Putting aside the topsy-turvy push-and-pull politics of contemporary nationalism, Frida was very clearly her own woman with a unique, albeit exceedingly eccentric, outlook on life. Hailed by some as a feminist, for her fearless autobiographical and brutal depictions of personal pain, there is no question that the rich European and Mezo-American cultures in which she lived and breathed, shaped and informed her wider world vision.

Barbezat's book is full of well-researched trivia that adds yet another layer of historic sediment to this now very identifiable 'Mexican' artist. Semi-deified now within the lexicon of Mexican history, Kahlo's cremated remains lay at rest, entombed in the Blue House Museum. Frida Kahlo, artist - and forever the wife of Mexican artist, Diego Rivera - could never have emerged from anywhere else.

Frida, at home, in the Blue House, dressed in traditional Tehuana garb, circa 1940. 

 This story is now published  -  Raise the Hammer, January 16th, 2017.

Canadian Authors Association Holiday Social Event

7:30pm - 9pm 

Monday, December 15th, 2014

Canadian Authors Association

at

The Nathanial Hughson Art Gallery

27 John Street North (map)

Hamilton

I'll be there ... bells on ... 

A new 'bi-weekly' MLH column & other freelance writing gigs

NB: My short story, The FROZEN GOOSE, has been made into a short film, watch it online here.  --- Plus, a new sesquicentennial project of spoken word & music, CANADADA: TAKE TWO, was released in the spring of 2017. Give a listen here. 

 

For other MLH published works see my Author's Page on Amazon. 
 ---
Published Stories by MLH
2012 

UPDATE: All former links to MLH stories on 'OurBurlington'
have been redirected to the re-named 'BURLINGTON GAZETTE'  front page.
To locate my following stories at that location, search via
'By Margaret Lindsay Holton' by-line. 

1. What's the Buzz? Tell me Whatsa happenin'

Title rewritten by blog editor.

Published in OurBurlington.org, March 8th, 2012

2. 'Lessons from Pre-Contact Culture: Cootes Paradise Revisited'

Published in Raise the Hammer, June 18^th, 2012

http://www.raisethehammer.org/article/1624/lessons_for_today_from_pre-contact_civilization_at_cootes_paradise

3. 'A Customer Service Connundrum'

Published OurBurlington  August 3rd, 2012

4. 'Men Really are Wonderful, even when Proud, Stubborn & a little bit Pig-Headed'

Published OurBurlington. August, 2012

5. 'Burlington's Forgotten Pier' – Title changed by blog editor

Published OurBurlington:: September 4th

6. 'Help Wanted: Public Art Seeks Burlington  Imagination: Apply Elsewhere.'

Title changed by editor …

Published in OurBurlngton

7. 'In the Age of the Internet, is the Burlington Public Library a Luxury we can No Longer Afford?' – 

Title changed by editor …

Published: September 27th 

8. 'Riding Horses: Chomping at the Bit'  - No title change.

Published: Oct 12th , 2012 - OurBurlington

9. 'Pythons' Pit is Fishing for Your Good Ideas: Rewards Offered

Title changed by editor …  

Published: Oct 26th, 2012, Our Burlington

10. ‘Not all Soup Bowls are Created Equal’

Title changed by editor …

Published, November 13^th, 2012 – OurBurlington

11. ‘Meetups Popping Up All around Burlington. Should City Hall host a‘Meetup?’

Title changed by editor – marginally. Editor failed to add supplied captions to images. sigh. 

… Published, Nov22^nd, 2012 - Our Burlington

12. ‘The RBG hosts the “Mechanical Botanical” Exuberance of Paul Busse. All aboard!’

Editor goofed on placement of photos ... 

Published, Dec 5th  - OurBurlington.org 

13. It certainly is a ‘Merry Christmas!’ on the world wide web … 

Published OurBurlington.org. Dec. 20^th, 2012

14. A quick dip in Lake Ontario at this time of year? Are you NUTS??? But, hey, Congrats!!    

Published OurBurlington.org, Dec 29th, 2012

2013

15.  'Burlington: Talking Turkey. Lots of Turkey. Really. I’m talking turkeys here … '

Title changed marginally ...

Published OurBurlington, Jan 14^th

16. Don't miss the Winter Market @ TERRA Greenhouse in North Burlington

Published OurBurlington, Jan 29th

17. Local artist, Steve Pilcher, in line to win an Academy Award 
with fellow Pixar/Disney artists & animators 
Published, then deleted from OurBurlington, within a week.
(Editor wouldn't make necessary editorial changes as requested by Pixar)  Read it here: 
http://canadadaphotography.blogspot.ca/2013/02/local-artist-steve-pilcher-in-line-to.html  

18. Harold Sikkema - Trickster? or Master in the Making?
Published on CanadadaPhotography, February 2013
-http://canadadaphotography.blogspot.ca/2013/02/harold-sikkema-trickster-or-master-in.html 

19. 'Stephani Vegh: Beating a Dead Horse? Or, Emerging from an Academic Chrysalis?'
Published on CanadadaPHOTOGRAPHY, March 18th, 2013. 
http://canadadaphotography.blogspot.ca/2013/03/stephanie-vegh-beating-dead-horse-or.html

20. 'The Artful Craft of Public Speaking ... '
Published in Raise the Hammer,April 1st
 http://raisethehammer.org/article/1814/the_artful_craft_of_public_speaking
and BurlingtonBeat.ca -March 29th, 2013

21. 'Hamilton Beach Community Cleans Up Its Patch of Our Planet'
Published in Raise the Hammer, April 29th, 2013
 http://raisethehammer.org/article/1838  

22. 'Baranga's on the Beach: this ain't no beach side 'hut' ...
Published in Raise the Hammer, May 16th, 2013
 http://raisethehammer.org/article/1855/  

23. Tall Ships coming into Hamilton Harbour - Black & White Photography
Published in Raise the Hammer, June 28th, 2013
 http://raisethehammer.org/blog/2735
and, in part, in the Burlington Gazette (formerly OurBurlington) 

24. Hamilton's Historical Beacon: A Lighthouse Well Worth Saving
Published in Raise the Hammer, August 26th, 2013
http://raisethehammer.org/article/1938
The Lighthouse Digest of Maine, USA is also running a 
condensed version of this story in their November, print issue. 

25. A Picnic on the High Level Bridge? Do We Dare? 
Published in Raise the Hammer, November 2nd, 2013
http://raisethehammer.org/article/1997

26. Forget Santa. Slam Poetry is Coming to Town!
Published in Raise the Hammer, December 18th, 2013
http://raisethehammer.org/article/2034

2014 

27.   Believe it or not, a well-crafted knot could save your life. 
Published in Raise the Hammer, (with video) February 7th, 2014 

28. Interview with Canadian Illustrator Tara Krebs: A Provocative Batterfly
Published in Raise the Hammer, March 28th, 2014

29. Location, Location, Location: Valley City in Dundas is Back. 
Published in Raise the Hammer, May 1st, 2014 
http://raisethehammer.org/article/2167

and in  The Hamilton Spectator - May 26th, 2014
and in Cambridge Times and Niagara This Week 

30. 'Lets Go Fly a Kite!
Published in Raise the Hammer, June 3rd, 2014 
http://raisethehammer.org/article/2203

31. Harold Dickert's Man Cave: Table Saw, Hand Tools & His Custom Made Guitars
(with VIDEO embed)
Published in Raise the Hammer, (with 14 min video )June 30th, 2014

and in The Hamilton Spectator, July 8/9th, 2014
as well as Cambridge Times, Niagara This Week and InsideHalton

32. A Whale of a Tale: The Scrimshaw Artistry of Dennis Sinclair (with VIDEO embed)
Published in Raise the Hammer, (with 9 min VIDEO), Oct 6th, 2014

33. A few thoughts on the recent municipal election ... 
With Less then 35% Voter Turnout - Did We Get What We Deserved?
Title changed by editor to 'Energy, Art & Cultural Engagement: Barry Lord with 34% voter turnout ... 
Published in Raise the Hammer, Nov. 7th, 2014

2015

34. Freelton Antique Mall: Eclectic, Exquisite & Eccentric 'Canadiana' 
Published in Raise the Hammer, (with 13:10 min VIDEO), Jan 15th, 2015

35. Sugaring Off! at Westfield Heritage Village (with VIDEO embed)
Published in Raise the Hammer, March 10th, 2015.

36. The Boob Tube: 3 Generations Talk TV
Published on Raise the Hammer, May 13th, 2015

37. The Frozen Goose Film Project: The DO's & DON'Ts of CROWDFUNDING 
Published on Raise the Hammer, September 10th, 2015

2016 

38. Words, Photos & Story-Telling: The Extreme Librarian  (with VIDEO embed)
Published on Raise the Hammer, May 20th, 2016 - 

39. Impressions of the Telling Tales Festival 2016  (with VIDEO embed)
Published on Riase the Hammer, October 5th, 2016

40. Studio of Metal-Worker, Doris Treleaven - 12 minute Documentary
Published on Raise the Hammer, October 7th, 2016  

2017 
41. Artist Frida Kahlo's Blood Bath Enshrined at Casa Azul
Published on Raise the Hammer, January 14th, 2017  

42. LAST FOLIO: Yuri Dojc - Exhibition Review at the Art Gallery of Hamilton
Published on Raise the Hammer, February 3rd, 2017

(Sidebar: Editor, Ryan McGreal, of Raise the Hammer, wrote great critical review of my latest musical offering, CANADADA:TAKE TWO - and published it on June 26th.

43. Book Review by M.L. Holton: All's Well by John Lefebvre
Published in Raise the Hammer, July 5th, 2017

44.  Book Review by M.L.Holton of  'CAST: Art & Objects'  
Published in Raise the Hammer, August 18th, 2017 

2020

45. Opinion by MLHolton - Arts Section - We'll Make It!
Published in Burington Gazette, May 5th, 2020 

 

2021

46. Creators Interview - MLHolton

Published on James Strecker Blog

 

 Recent book & CD production -  HERE
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