This is the continuation of the annotated bibliography I am producing, part two of five. See the previous post, “bibliography part two,” for this section of my bibliography without my research notes.
Reference Type: Edited Book
Editor: Barry Panter, Mary Lou Panter, Evelyn Virshup, Bernard Virshup
Year: 1995
Title: Creativity and Madness: Psychological Studies of Art and Artists
City: Burbank
Publisher: American Institute of Medical Education Press
ISBN: 0-9641185-1-3
I was frustrated with DiGiovanni and Lee’s chapter “The Art and Suffering of Frida Kahlo.” For whatever bizarre and pointless reason they tried to formulate an idea about Kahlo’s “fragmentation.” I would have much rather learned the details of how the quality, quantity, content (etc) of her work related to the medicines she was addicted to/how alcoholism played a role in countering her physical pain/the relationship between her work and alcohol/if she was thought to suffer from minor or major depression/how long term pain effects the psyche/etc. It is a painful chapter–”By the end of her life, Frida Kahlo’s physical condition was so complicated by addictions to pain killers and alcohol that, although her death certificate listed the cause of death as a pulmonary embolism, it was more likely a suicidal drug overdose (84).”
Reference Type: Edited Book
Editor: Bloom, Lisa
Year: 1999
Title: With Other Eyes: Looking at Race and Gender in Visual Culture
City: Minneapolis
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 0-8166-3222-7
“This anthology addresses the impact of gender, race, and sexual politics of imperialism and nationalisms on contemporary visual culture and its practices (6).” Most of the chapters seem far from my current study, however the first essay in Part 2 “Making Art, Making Citizens” might graduate to my reading list after all. The most useful quote in this book so far is quoted from Black Popular Culture: “the insight of the most recent generation of feminists of color has been that blacks (or black women or women of color or black men) cannot be tacked onto formulations about gender without engaging in a form of conceptual violence. IN NO THEORETICALLY USEFUL WAY WHATSOEVER ARE BLACKS LIKE WOMEN (8).” (emphasis mine.)
Reference Type: Book
Author: Schor, Mira
Year: 1997
Title: Wet: On Painting, Feminism, and Art Culture
City: Durham and London
Publisher: Duke University Press
Section 2, Chapter 1, “From Liberation to Lack” deals with representations of female sexuality by women artists. The essay begins with a list of books and articles that are recognizable to me, but I can imagine this would turn me off if they were unknown. Schor was trying to engage her readers: Ignore the damn list, its a good essay. Also, I dig the title of this book. I don’t know how I breezed past the first section on masculinity. I’ll be reading Section 1, Chapters 2-4 TOMORROW. (Representations of the Penis, Forensics: The Part for the Hole, and The Bitter Tea of General Yen: Paintings by David Diao)
Reference Type: Book
Author: Zamora, Martha
Year: 1995
Title: The Letters of Frida Kahlo: Cartas Apasionadas
City: San Francisco
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 0-8118-1124-7
Kahlo’s writing is less ecstatic than her painting–still honest, tender and rarely cryptic… but less concentrated. Unfortunately, this book is in English; I would rather do my own translation. What was edited out and how were the letters selected? We will place our faith blindly in the able hands of Zamora. For English speakers, its the best book I’ve found for prying into Kahlo’s personal life.
“A Letter to [boyfriend] Alejandro Gómez Arias, December 5, 1925 [approx. three months after the trolley car accident]–
The only good thing is that I’m starting to get used to suffering (23).”
