Alberto Korda’s photograph of bereted revolutionary Che Guevara was the most reproduced image of the 20th century. It was taken at a 1960 memorial rally, but Cuba’s absence of copyright law meant that ‘Guerrillero Heroico’ was seized upon by opportunistic entrepreneurs and Warhol wannabes, who invested it with an iconography comparable to the Mona Lisa.
This slick chronicle of the commodification of Che’s gaze is a triumph of graphic research and editorial dexterity. But it’s also a provocative analysis of the extent to which artists retain ownership over their creations after they have had new — and often contradictory — meanings bestowed upon them.