You wanna know why? Because after a literal 8 hours of constant school work, I still haven't dented what I need to get done by tomorrow night. But if I don't stop reading about the history of Brahmanistic Hinduism, I may slip into a coma. My brain's refusing to allow input of anymore information today, lest I die from overexposure to World Religion.
So, for the sake of self-preservation, I figured I'd recap the goings on of yesterday (i.e. Saturday) since they were so awesome.
Me and my bestest buddy started the day off at a wonderful little local brewery that was hosting an open house and beer tasting. Any Saturday that begins with friends and expertly crafted, creatively infused beers like Rum Raisin and a red velvet porter is bound to be a good Saturday. It was just good people, and good food, and yummy beer, all outside in the freezing cold with a little Johnny Cash to help thaw you out. Groovy.
This picture wasn't taken by me. My fantastic friend Tonya took it with her phone and I have obviously stolen it. Tonya, if you'd like me to not use it here, just let me know and I'll take it down. But it's such a cool picture, I had to share.
Anyways, after beer and had-to-be-mentioned beer infused trifles, we left the brewery and headed downtown to the High Museum to see the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibit.
I don't know why I'm so fascinated by other people's love stories, but I am. I guess I like to see how love looks on other people, what it does to them and their lives. For Frida, her marriage to Diego colored all of her work, but not in a stylistic way. Diego was nearly 20 years older than Frida and learned to paint classically, studying in many places under many people. Frida taught herself and often painted freely for family and friends. Her work is deeply personal, a feature seen not only in her self-portraits, but also in her sketches and her still-lifes. It chronicles the physical pain of the accident that nearly crippled her, the emotional pain of Diego's infidelity, and her devout love of her home country Mexico.
It was an amazing exhibit and I'm so glad we got to see these pieces, brush strokes, stab marks and all.
Frida painted this piece, called My Dress Hangs There, to express her distaste for American Capitalism and overt consumption. She and Diego were both Communists: "I was a member of the party before I met Diego and I think I am a better Communist than he is or ever will be."
This was one of my favorites. Called Self Portrait with Cropped Hair, Frida Kahlo painted this after finding out about Diego's affair with her sister and divorcing him. She's painted herself with her hair chopped off as an affront to him because he loved her long locks. The lyrics at the top read, "Look, if I loved you, it was because of your hair. Now that you are bald, I don't love you anymore."
I loved this one too. Titled, A Few Small Nips (Passionately In Love) it was exhibited with this wooden frame that Frida actually stabbed with a small knife (the marks in the wood are on the top, in the center). It represents not only the the oppression of and violence against women, but also the harmful effects of passion. Frida took inspiration from the story of an unfaithful woman who was murdered by her jealous husband. When questioned by the judge, the man defended himself by saying, "it was only a few small nips."
I was obviously drawn to more of Frida's work, but all the pieces were incredible to look at. It was stirring and managed to vividly tell the story of these two people who managed to find love and respect for each other, sometimes a little too late in Diego's case. If you get a chance, you should all go see it.
Okay, I'm done staring at this computer now. It's been like, 9 hours or something.
Hope you guys had a stellar, magnificent weekend.
xo.
All images, except Tonya's, were found on Google images. I do not claim ownership.
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