Baby Che
Acrylic on Denim Baby Jacket
2003
Despite the controversies surrounding him, and the marketing of his visage to the point of irrelevance by the American culture industry, the Che Guevara icon remains more sympathetically recognized than his words or deeds. This item was a gift to a mother who shares Joe's interest in Che. The usual iconic Korda image was avoided in favor of a more bareheaded depiction of the man. The legend, "Veritas", and the intensity of color upon which Che's portrait has been superimposed can be examined as a declaration of the struggle for truth whether one embraces Che's symbolic persona or despises it. The laurels, the rose and the clouds of heaven are either context or contrast to the icon.
Private collection.
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Mixed Media
Combining traditional mediums, found objects and unconventional materials, Joe plays, explores, and stretches his relationship to his work. Each object has been synthesized in concept and execution from the ordinary and the evocative into an artifact with a life all its own.
