Viva Frida is a lovely tribute to Frida Kahlo. Morales has made beautiful handmade dolls, setting them in brightly colored scenes, which were then expertly photographed by Tim O'Meara. I can't think of another book quite like this. Each page contains no more than 3 words (usually 2): simple phrases like "I see," "I search," "I dream," with Spanish translation in lighter, italic type in the background. Motifs and symbolism from Frida Kahlo's paintings (and life) are featured throughout (her monkey, parrots and dog, a wounded deer, the earrings she wears are in one of her self portraits). Her husband, Diego Rivera is present, as is her famous blue house.
But I'm not sure how well it succeeds as a book for children. It's hard to follow. There's no story at all. At one point the ideas are dragged over so many spreads that I forgot what it was saying (and I'm not sure how much literal/logical sense it made anyway). The whole thing could be summarized with one trite phrase like "live, laugh, love" (I create therefore I live
The dream sequence, the abstract concepts, the surreal art--is it all lost on the audience? Can it mean much to someone totally unfamiliar with Frida's work--child or adult? But it is beautiful to look at, and children, I'm sure, will appreciate the art. As I saw someone say, it seems a bit more like an art installation in tribute to Frida than a book for children.
No comments:
Post a Comment