CHE

The V&A Museum (Victoria & Albert) held a Che Gueara exhibition this summer. In it the various artists re-created the now legendary revolutionary leader's photograph taken by Alberto Diaz Korda in 1960. The exhibit was called Che Guevara: Revolutionary & Icon. You can find more images and info on the V&A site.


The portrait of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, Guerrillero Heroico, photographed by Alberto Díaz Korda on March 5, 1960, is considered to be the most reproduced image in the history of photography. Whether this claim can be substantiated or not, Korda's Che is nonetheless a unique image. It has come to symbolise anti-establishment, radical thought and action.- V&A Museum Curator's intro Trisha Ziff.
This exhibition brings together photography, posters, film, fine art, clothing and artefacts from more than thirty countries. The image moves from heroic guerrilla and pop celebrity to radical chic, spoof and kitsch. The vast majority of the aesthetic treatments of Korda's image derive from the Pop idiom of the 60s. While traditional art relishes ambiguity, introspection and chance, the aesthetic of Pop art was by definition a rejection of traditional art and figuration. Pop's egalitarian, "in your face" presentations are a perfectcorollary for Che's anti-establishment values.- V&A Museum Curator's intro Trisha Ziff