By Aaradhana Natarajan Vanna Vinci does justice to the fantastic imagery and vibrant earthiness of Frida Kahlo’s art in both the text and the visuals of her 2017 graphic novel Frida: The Story of Her Life. The pages hold a blend of recollections, history and conjecture that form a syncretic portrait of an artist most known for her heavily symbolic self-portraiture. The text is both biography and exposition for the lush art. Vinci imbues her subject with the rich, often mordant and morbid sensibility Kahlo* is known for. I thought it was refreshing how, even as a child, Vinci’s… Read More
Frida Kahlo: An Illustrated Life
by Martina Follador Frida Kahlo was born in Coyocán, Mexico, the 6th of July 1907. We know Frida as an artist and lots of us already know some of her biography, but the most interesting part of her is her interiority. As she has always said, she draws herself because she’s the thing she knows the most, and what comes out is a beautiful world, made of feelings, emotions and hidden thoughts. She paints her daily reality. Her past was overwhelmed by sufferance and painting was the only thing she could do when obliged to stay in bed. She… Read More
The Con Artists
Book Review by Kevin Wolf Luke Healy plays many roles in The Con Artists. He is the creator (writer/artist), he appears-perhaps as himself—in the Prologue, Intermission, and Epilogue (kind of like Mister Rogers appearance before he put his sweater on and tied his shoes to enter the Land of Make-Believe—and with a disguise change (mustache, different glasses and shirt) becomes the main character, Frank, in this fictional graphic novel. One con artist, Giorgio, becomes clear relatively quickly, but how much of his actions are real and how much are a scam? With the plural book title, who might any… Read More