Appearances of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara (1928 – 1967) in popular culture are common throughout the world. Although during his lifetime he was a highly politicized and controversial figure, in death his stylized image has been transformed into a worldwide emblem for an array of causes, representing a complex mesh of sometimes conflicting narratives. His image is viewed as everything from an inspirational icon of revolution, to a hipster logo of radical chic. Most commonly he is represented by a facial caricature originally by Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick and based on Alberto Korda's famous 1960 photograph entitled Guerrillero Heroico . The evocative simulacra abbreviation of the photographic portrait allowed for easy reproduction and instant recognizability across various uses. For many around the world, Che has become a generic symbol of the underdog, the idealist, the iconoclast, or the man willing to die for a cause. He has become, as author Michael Casey notes in Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image , "the quintessential postmodern icon signifying anything to anyone and everything to everyone."
Overview
"Pop's depersonalization and standardization simplified Che's image and helped align him with the masses, at the same time certifying his image as everyman. Pop's aesthetic pushed towards absolutely unambiguous and uninflected meaning and repeatability. Warholian Pop deals with outlines and surfaces rather than full chiaroscuro. This reduction of the real world provided the perfect vehicle for distancing the image from the complexities and ambiguities of actual life and the reduction of the political into stereotype. Che lives in these images as an ideal abstraction."— Jonathan Green, UCR Museum of Photography directorChe Guevara's likeness has undergone continual apotheosis while being weaved throughout the public consciousness in a variety of ways. From being viewed as a "Saintly Christ-like" figure by the rural poor in Bolivia where he was executed, to being viewed as an idealistic insignia for youth, longing for a vague sense of rebellion. His likeness can also be seen on millions of posters, hats, key chains, mouse pads, hoodies, beanies, flags, berets, backpacks, bandannas, belt buckles, wallets, watches, wall clocks, Zippo lighters, pocket flasks, bikinis, personal tattoos, and most commonly T-shirts. Meanwhile his life story can be found in an array of films, documentaries, plays, and songs of tribute. Throughout television, music, books, magazines, and ironically even corporate advertisements, Che's visage is an ever-present political and apolitical emblem that has been endlessly mutated, transformed, and morphed over the last forty years of visual pop culture.
His face has evolved into many manifestations and represents a Rashomon effect to those who observe its use. To some it is a generic high street visual emblem of global marketing, while to others it represents a vague notion of dissent, civil disobedience, or political awareness. Conversely, to those ideologically opposed to Che Guevara's belief in World revolution, or to those that resent his veneration because of his violent actions, his propagation represents shallow ignorant kitsch, idolatry worthy of spoof makeovers, parody, or even ridicule. What is indisputable, however, is that Che has become a widely disseminated counter-cultural symbol that sometimes operates independent of the man himself. Hannah Charlton of the The Sunday Times made note of this practice by postulating that "T-shirt wearers might wear Che's face as an easy replacement for real activism or as a surrogate for it."
Genesis
"His image has been appropriated for political, economic, and even spiritual purposes. He is the symbol of communist destiny, and yet also beloved by anticommunist rebels; his face is used to sell beer and skis, yet an English church group recently issued posters of Jesus Christ himself recast as Che. The affluent youth of Europe and North America have resurrected Che as an easy emblem of meaningless and unthreatening rebellion, a queer blending of educated violence and disheveled nobility, like Gandhi with a gun or John Lennon singing 'Give Peace a Chance.'"— Patrick Symmes, Author of Chasing Che: A Motorcycle Journey in Search of the Guevara LegendWalk through any major metropolis around the globe and it is likely that you will come across an image of Che Guevara, most commonly a stylized version of Korda's iconic Guerrillero Heroico . An archetype, capable of endless visual regeneration, which depending on your opinion, either helps tell the story of 20th century visual literacy or kitsch banality. According to Hannah Charlton, editor of Che Guevara: Revolutionary and Icon , "By the 1990s the global market saw the emergence of what Naomi Klein has called a "market marsala"—a bilingual mix of North and South, some Latin, some R&B, all couched in global party politics." By embodying corporate identities that appear radically individualistic and perpetually new, the brands attempt to inoculate themselves against accusations that they are selling sameness. The next stage is to present consumption as a code, where mega brands, supposedly reflecting the "indie" values of their purchasing audience, can do so with a knowing irony that of course the buyer can remain seemingly untouched by the corporate values underpinning the transaction.
Enter Che: the 60's symbol of student revolution, the all-pervasive ascetic gaze used to add allure and mystique to a product, because either a sophisticated audience is savvy enough to distinguish between revolution and commerce while enjoying the irony, or oblivious of who he is or what he represents. This began the metamorphosis from Che the martyred resistance fighter beloved by many, and Che the violent Marxist revolutionary despised by others, to his dual paradoxical position in the global corporate capitalist culture. The commodification of the image has been ongoing since his death, and since the late 1990s has seen a resurgence. UCLA art historian David Kunzle, has described the phenomenon by noting "if you go to Havana today, you will not see Che with a gun, you will see him with a rose or a dove. He's become the Gandhi of Cuba."
This abiding 'renaissance' of Che's visage, is chronicled by filmmaker and Guggenheim scholar Trisha Ziff, who explores the genesis, continuing adaptation, and history of Che Guevara's famous image in the 2008 documentary "Chevolution" .
Hannah Charlton hypothesizes that "appropriating the aura of Che for brand building, has now given rise to a new resurgence of "Che-ness" that transcends branding in its global appeal. In the shifting complexities of intercultural values, in the search for universal images that can speak across borders and boundaries, today's global image of Che is the most successful." The Che face, more than any other icon according to Charlton, can keep accruing new application without relinquishing its essence – a generic and positive version of anti-status quo and liberation from any oppressive force, and a general, romantic, non-specific fantasy about change and revolution.
Taking note of Che's malleable essence, filmmakers Adriana Marino and Douglas Duarte created the 2007 documentary "Personal Che" , which documents the numerous ways that people around the world re-create Che in their own image.
In religion
"Saint Ernesto" in Bolivia
"It's like he is alive and with us, like a friend. He is kind of like a Virgin Mary for us. We say, 'Che, help us with our work or with this planting,' and it always goes well."— Manuel Cortez, a campesino who resides next to the schoolhouse where Guevara was executedChe Guevara's unlikely transformation into a "sanctified" figure began immediately after his execution. Susana Osinaga, the nurse who cleaned Guevara's corpse after his execution reminisced that locals saw an uncanny physical resemblance to the popularized artistic portrayals of Jesus. According to Osinaga, "he was just like a Christ, with his strong eyes, his beard, his long hair", adding that her in her view he was "very miraculous." Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life , notes how among the hospital's nuns, and a number of Vallegrande women, the impression that Guevara bore an extraordinary resemblance to Jesus Christ quickly spread; leading them to surreptitiously clip off clumps of his long hair and keep them for good luck. Jorge G. Castañeda, author of Compañero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara , discerns that "the Christ-like image prevailed" stating "it's as if the dead Guevara looks on his killers and forgives them, and upon the world, proclaiming that he who dies for an idea is beyond suffering."
Eleven days after Guevara's execution, journalist I. F. Stone (who himself had interviewed Guevara), drew the comparison by noting that "with his curly reddish beard, he looked like a cross between a faun and a Sunday-school print of Jesus." That observation was followed by German artist and playwright Peter Weiss' remark that the post-mortem images of Guevara resembled a "Christ taken down from the cross."
In August 1968, French inte
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