Att kolonisera Frida Kahlo

Okej, jag kanske överdriver.
Och en del har säkert sett det här innan.
För min egen del stör det här konstverket mig något enormt. Men jag har svårt att formulera varför. Eller det är väl för att hon ska tvingas in i dagens skönhetsideal. Nåja, kommentera gärna.

Jag sprang på att en konstnär har retuscherat ett av Frida Kahlos porträtt. Han har gjort henne vitare, och tagit bort ansiktsbehåring. Anledningen, som han förklarar det själv:

“Okay so I know this is kinda taboo but anyways.
Frida Kahlo: Not too easy on the eyes. I mean she’s got the lady-mo and the monobrow thing going on. She didn’t know where to put her blush or what shade lipstick would obviously suit her skin tone. Really, she’s a bit of a wreck. So this got me to thinking. What would have happened if her girlfriends had done the right thing and taken her to a beautician, (which clearly needed to happen)? I did a subtle re-paint over the top of her original self-portrait to “conceptualize” what it would have looked like if she had been whisked off to Beauty Works or the likes….I didn’t want to alter the integrity of the original painting too much. What do you reckon?”

Originalet:

Retuscheringen:

En kommentar till verket skriver om Kahlos högst medvetna val att framhäva ögonbryn och mustach:
“Kahlo’s eyebrows and mustache were a purposeful rejection of white colonizer standards of beauty; she didn’t just leave them on her face the way they grew, she groomed them and darkened them with makeup. Her appearance was beautiful, and it was intentional.”