In this short video, i page through a book of Rene’s iconic Vietnam silkscreens. He created these images in 1972 during his second visit to North Vietnam, and everything depicted was witnessed by him.
These images were first published as silkscreens in a large format, and later a few hundred copies of this book were produced: each image had to be redone in miniature form in a process that Rene described to me as something only possible – “because we were crazy!”
My copy was given to me by Rene, and he added a dedication, which i read whenever i want to feel his presence.
My Judgement against Shepard Fairey:
Art exists in a continuum. For an artist, the appropriation of ideas from another artist is legitimate, necessary and unavoidable, but stealing the ideas of committed artists, and turning them into the lucrative products of your vanity is piracy, and reveals your colonialist soul. I testify to the fact that you ripped off Rene Mederos, who was a great person/true artist, and you diminished yourself in the process of enriching yourself $$$ You are a bad boy !!! I condemn you to life.
[tags]Shepard Fairey, Rene Mederos, Plagiarist, Lincoln Cushing, Cuban Graphic Art, Appropriation, Javier Hernandez-Miyares, Curated By Baird Jones[/tags]
