Che Guevara: Revolutionary and Icon

by Trisha Ziff (Editor)

An iconic photo of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara was taken in 1960 that is now thought to be the most reproduced image in the history of photography. What comes to mind when you see this picture? Most likely words like “revolution” and “hero”; or ideas like anti-establishment and freedom. But would you think about vodka?

Che Guevara is a revealing look at the incredibly varied ways the photo and Che himself have been appropriated. From Che Gay T-shirts to psychedelic posters, tattoos to Warholesque fine art, ads for booze to photographs by Annie Liebowitz, this ever-present image has taken Che from heroic guerilla through Pop celebrity to a symbol of radical chic. The image has become an ideal of abstraction, and Che Guevara vividly demonstrates that the diverse ways in which it has been used can tell us quite a lot about our culture and ourselves.

Genres: Art

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this on my desk for a long time thinking of it as a cute little coffee table picture book. It was a pleasure to find that it included a lot of thoughtful commentary on Che, his legacy, as well as fascinating details about the original, iconic image (the Korda photograph).

[Moushumi Ghosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A visual history and analysis of the cult of Che Guevera linked to the iconic photograph taken by Alberto Korda. Essays by academics and journalists interspersed with social commentary on what Che meant then and now. And this image can mean so much and more. Read because you are fascinated by the photograph, Che, his life and what he stands for. One thing I do not agree with and that is - Che has not become a symbol of prolific capitalism. He remains the revolutionary at heart, on film negative, on paper, on walls, on t-shirts and wherever else they put him.