Felix Mederos Pazos and Cuban Revolution Poster Art

Introduction: Art and Revolution in Cuba

Felix Rene Mederos Pazos was an artist born in Cuba. He was self-taught, with no formal art training. Pazos spent much of his life working as a graphic designer — first in a print plant and later in television. This paper examines the role of this artist within the historical and cultural contexts that made him famous, and in some cases infamous.

The development of poster art in Cuba grew initially through the promotion of films. However, posters were also used to promote the ideals of the Cuban Revolution — peace and equality. Though the end goals of this revolution represented higher ideals for society, the struggle to reach them was an extraordinarily bloody one. At the forefront of that struggle stood the iconic figure of Che Guevara.

Che did not acquire his iconic status without the help of his contemporary artists, however. Their work — such as the work of Mederos — elevated the imagery of the struggle and the revolution. One may ask whether figures like Che influenced the art, or whether the art shaped perceptions of Che and the Cuban people. The answer is most likely some combination of both forces.

Felix Rene Mederos Pazos was born in Cuba in 1933. He began working at approximately age eleven at a print shop in Havana and remained in that industry for the entirety of his life. Though his initial roles were in print production, he later evolved into a graphic designer, taking on assignments with ever-increasing artistic responsibility. He combined technical expertise and artistic ability to reach mass audiences through poster design (Brociner, Kunzle, and Cushing 1996).

Political Environment

Though he spent much of his life in Havana, his Cuban background allowed him to travel extensively into some of the harshest political dramas of the twentieth century. In 1969, he was commissioned by Cuba's Department of Revolutionary Orientation to travel to Vietnam to artistically document the devastation of the war. Cuba's interest in sending Mederos to record such injustices was undoubtedly tied to its own political struggles — the wish to portray the United States as an aggressor and war criminal in order to justify its own political views and ambitions.

The most intense moments of the Cuban Revolution were fought from 1956 to 1959. This period comprises the bulk of the armed struggle, although the cultural struggle stretched over a much greater period (Thomas 1971). The origins of the revolution can be traced all the way back to Spanish colonial rule, which dates to the sixteenth century when the first Spanish conquerors claimed the land as their own. Since that time, Cubans have perceived themselves as living under one form of occupation or another.

The political background of the twentieth century can be understood as a cultural movement against imperialism and capitalism. Years of bloody struggle toughened Cuba's middle class. They were no strangers to fighting for their rights as citizens, and as a result, labor unions were created that stood on the verge of militarization. Consequently, the middle class achieved a position that most nations' middle classes would envy. For example, during the 1950s Havana had more cinemas than New York City. Cuba also boasted some of the most liberal working conditions of the period and some of the highest per-class incomes in the world.

The strength of the middle class set the stage for the events that followed. They were relatively wealthy, educated, and not prone to compromise. When the Batista administration imposed economic regulations on Cuba that were viewed as pro-imperialist and favorable to trade with the United States, it created a powerful resentment among the Cuban people. Cubans did not want to be controlled or dominated by any foreign power — a struggle they felt they had only recently broken free of.

The stage could not have been more favorable to Fidel Castro's rise to power. With the remnants of U.S. imperialism still resonating, Cubans welcomed Castro when he overthrew the Batista government in 1959. The military operations of the revolution were led by Che Guevara, a dynamic and controversial historical figure. Che was trained as a doctor in Argentina and had no formal military background — much as Mederos had no formal art training. He was extraordinarily intelligent, though he is better known today as a guerrilla leader. His first documented move toward Marxism came as a result of a motorcycle journey along the coast of South America, during which he witnessed the stark social inequalities produced by the extreme concentration of wealth in the region.

Castro's revolution in the mid-twentieth century still resonates with South American countries today. Resistance to U.S. economic imperialism continues to unite many South American leaders. Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, for example, was publicly and sharply critical of the United States — famously calling U.S. President George W. Bush "the devil" in a speech delivered before the United Nations General Assembly. Chávez was not alone in this struggle; he was joined by Morales in Bolivia and several others in an effort to unite South America against the pressures the U.S. places on the region.

This political landscape has produced an atmosphere in which sentiment for revolution is widespread — both in counter-culture and, in certain areas, in mainstream opinion. The fact that Cuba has successfully resisted constant pressure from the United States is representative of the culture still present in Cuba today. The U.S. has applied pressure through economic sanctions and has even employed the CIA in attempts to assassinate key political figures and destabilize the government. Resistance to such attempts is strong, however, and exists at many levels throughout Cuban society.

Conclusion

Using a storyboard to tell a story is far from a new phenomenon. Artists used to depict the story of Christ by creating stained glass storyboards adorned in churches beginning shortly after the dawn of the new millennium. Going farther back, one can also consider the storyboard-like representations painted on cave walls by our most ancient ancestors. Mederos blended his technical skills, artistic abilities, and political convictions to tell the story of the Cuban Revolution through similar visual narratives, using modern production methods. In doing so, he helped shape Cuban culture — the same culture that continues to resist external pressures from the United States.