Che Guevara in Popular Culture - in Art

In Art

See also: Guerrillero Heroico "Possibly more than the Mona Lisa, more than images of Christ, more than comparable icons such as The Beatles or Monroe, Che's image has continued to hold the imagination of generation after generation." — Hannah Charlton, The Sunday Times

• British pop artist Sir Peter Blake has referred to Guerrillero Heroico as "one of the great icons of the 20th century."
• Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick converted Korda's picture into a high contrast stylized drawing, which since has become iconic and is frequently seen in silkscreen or stencil art.
• The Cuban Ministry for the Interior building features a large, stylised outline of Che's face above the phrase "Hasta la Victoria Siempre" (English: "Until the Eternal Victory").
• In 1996, Argentine/American artist Leandro Katz displayed his "Project For The Day You'll Love Me" exhibit in Harlem, New York. The accumulative series of installations dealt with Freddy Aborta's 1967 mortuary photograph of Guevara and included a 41-foot-long (12 m) timeline of the revolutionary's life. Furthermore, Katz interprets Alborta's photo in a series of photomontages, which also include paintings of a dead Jesus Christ.
• In 2005 an exhibition examining the Korda portrait titled Revolution & Commerce: The Legacy of Korda's Portrait of Che Guevara, was organized by Jonathan Green and Trisha Ziff for UCR/California Museum of Photography. This exhibition has traveled to International Center of Photography, New York; Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
• Cuban artist José Toirac has exhibited a piece titled Requiem, which contains a video of the dead bullet-riddled body of Guevara, which Toirac tortuously pans, inch by inch. The video, which serves as a quasi religious meditation, is shown inside a mausoleum-type enclosure.
• The cover of the January 1972 edition of National Lampoon magazine features a parody of the Alberto Korda's iconic photo in which Che is hit in the face with a cream pie.
• A parody of the famous Che Guevara poster was used on the cover of the March 2008 edition of MAD Magazine, with Alfred E. Neuman's head replacing Guevara's.

• American artist Trek Thunder Kelly has a 2005 painting titled Che Guevara: The Instigator, which features the famous guerrilla in a spoof Dolce & Gabbana ad.
• French assemblage artist Bernard Pras created a 2007 composite work modeled after Guerrillero Heroico.
• The 2009 Contact Photography Festival at Toronto's Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art featured a piece titled "Dancing with Che" by artist Barbara Astman. The work comprised a series of 50 photographs wherein Astman dances in a Che Guevara t-shirt, for the benefit of her Polaroid's timed shutter.
• Manhattan's International Center of Photography held a 2006 exhibit titled "Che ! Revolution and Commerce."
• The Montreal Museum of Fine Art used Guevara's image to advertise their 2004 expose titled Global Village: The 1960s.
• The Italian artist Luca Del Baldo has six paintings featuring the post-mortem face of Che Guevara.
• In October 2007, the Frieze Art Fair unveiled a life size bronze statue by Christian Jankowski in London's Regent's Park. The piece, which in 2008 was also displayed in New York City's Central Park, portrays a well known Barcelona street performer dressed as Che Guevara.
• In January 2009, artist Juan Vazquez Martin, who fought alongside Che Guevara during the Cuban Revolution, held an exhibition with 13 of his paintings in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Guevara inspired works were shown as part of the Bloody Sunday commemoration weekend. Martin stated that he was "emotional" and "inspired" during his visit, upon seeing a mural celebrating Che Guevara's Irish connection to the Bogside.