Felix René Mederos Pazos (20 November 1933 – 24 September 1996) was a prominent

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

artist and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

. Mederos, a self-taught artist from Sagua la Grande, began work in a

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.printshop Print shop may refer to: * Printer (publishing), someone providing commercial printing services * The Print Shop The Print Shop is a desktop publishing software package originally published in 1984 by Broderbund. It was unique in that it provi ...

in 1944 and was appointed Chief Designer for Cuba's principal television station in 1959. In 1964, at the beginning of the new wave of Cuban graphic design, Mederos began creating his first posters as head of the design team of the

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

organization Intercommunications. In 1969 Mederos was assigned by DOR (The Department of Revolutionary Orientation) to travel to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

to paint scenes of the war. He travelled to both

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

along the

Ho Chi Minh trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...

with the liberation forces, experiencing first-hand the brutal conditions of war and the courageous response of the Vietnamese people. The paintings were exhibited in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, and were subsequently reproduced as a screenprinted series which has been shown all over the world. Another trip in 1972 added to the body of work. Several of these images were reproduced in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as part of the anti-war and Cuba solidarity efforts and in Cuba as a set of

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s. He also contributed to the solidarity posters produced by

OSPAAAL The Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America (), abbreviated as OSPAAAL, was a Cuban political movement with the stated purpose of fighting globalisation, imperialism, neoliberalism, and defending human rights. Th ...

(Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa, and Latin America) which enjoyed worldwide distribution through the magazine ''

Tricontinental ''Tricontinental'' is a Left-wing politics, left-wing quarterly magazine founded after the Tricontinental Conference 1966. The magazine is the official publication of the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin Ameri ...

''. In 1973 Mederos created a series of ''vallas'' (12-sheet billboards) on the history of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

as well as a series of screenprints commemorating the 20th anniversary of the assault on the Moncada, the event signaling the beginning of the armed resistance to the

Batista Batista is a Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player João Batista da Silva * Dave Bautista, Batista (wrestler) (Dave ...

government. He continued to design ''vallas'' and posters for DOR and its successor Editora Politica (EP) on a wide range of domestic and international issues. In 1991 Mederos visited the United States for the first time, where he designed and painted a mural at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

on U.S.–Vietnam solidarity. His last major project was a 14-panel portable mural series on

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

. Mederos died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in Havana in 1996. His style, with its bright, firmly contoured surfaces, its ebullience of

patterns in nature Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world. These patterns recur in different contexts and can sometimes be modelled mathematically. Natural patterns include symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders, wave ...

, and a strong, political theme, established a unique standard for graphic design in Cuba which influenced a whole generation of graphic artists all over the world.

References

* Ken Brociner, David Kunzle, and Lincoln Cushing.
obituary of Rene Mederos
'. * Lincoln Cushing.''Revolucion! Cuban Poster Art'', Chronicle Books, 2003. * David Kunzle. ''Che Guevara : Icon, Myth, and Message'', UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1997. * Karen Wald. ''A Cuban Artist Views North Vietnam'', Ramparts magazine, April 1970.

References

See also