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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Che's Afterlife

Design by Mark Abrams
Cover image by Jim Fitzpatrick
Original photo by Alberto Korda

Buy this book from Amazon.com

Not a biography of Che Guevara, but an "amalgam of travelogue, visual criticism, biography and reportage" (Publishers Weekly) that examines one of the strongest iconic images of the 20th century (and beyond). Or as reviewer Michiko Kakutani puts it, "Mr. Casey traces...how the guerrilla fighter became a logo as recognizable as the Nike swoosh or McDonald’s golden arches."


See the original, uncropped photo on Wikipedia, and check out how the Andy Warhol painting of Che isn't really an Andy Warhol painting of Che, but how Warhol managed to get paid for it anyway.

7 comments:

umlaut said...

Fascinating subject matter for sure, but given that the ubiquity of the image is the reason behind the book, surely this cover required a more innovative and interesting treatment?

The Lincoln cover you featured before was a much, much better application of a similarly iconic figure.

Your escalator operator said...

Great story about Warhol.

Ian Koviak said...

if I see this image of Che one more time I'm gonna shit my pants.

'scuse me, I need to go change myself.

Ian Koviak said...

I like how Warhol "authenticated" it. Does the art world get any better than that?

Anonymous said...

I hate this chap; he's everywhere. :D

Funny videos said...

Great story about Warhol.

Adrian from Canada said...

A revolutionary who sent hundreds of people to their death, and he's become a pop icon because somebody did a painting of him. I'm so sick and tired of seeing his face. Do you think if Warhol had chosen Pol Pot, Hitler, or Stalin it would've been so popular? Please, let's stop using this mediocre image.