Magazine cover artist to talk in Lake Worth
Edel Rodriguez will discuss Time Trump covers, sign books.
LAKE WORTH — Growing up in Havana, Cuba, under the late Fidel Castro’s oppressive regime, Edel Rodriguez was introduced to politics at a young age.
Those unsettling times had a profound impact on Rodriguez, now 45 and a professional artist who always incorporates politics and culture into his work.
Socialist propaganda, western advertising, island culture and contemporary city life all make their way into Rodriguez’s illustrations.
“I always had a n i n t e r e s t i n making art about the politics of my time because it had a big effect on my life,” said Rodriguez, who i mmigra t e d t o S o u t h F l o r i d a in the 1980s. “I want to explain things to people because as a child I really didn’t understand what was going on.”
As part of the city’s BiblioArte Week, which aims to promote literacy through art, Rodriguez, art director for international editions at Time for 13 years, will lead a workshop with students at the Armory Annex Art Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today on Lake Avenue.
Some of Rodriguez’s iconic magazine covers — then presidential candidate Donald Trump’s meltdown; sexual harassment in Silicon Valley; the Saudis’ connection to 9/11 — will be on display at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, 601 Lake Ave. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Rodriguez, who has illustrated three children’s books, said he’ll talk about his work, sign books and do some drawing and painting.
Is he concerned the kids aren’t old enough to fully appreciate his work?
“I look at the age group I’m talking to and I fashion what I talk about depending on that,” Rodriquez said. “I can always talk about free speech and that they can say whatever they want through artwork. That’s something you can always tell younger kids.”
Rodriguez starting drawing at a young age, something that gave him peace. An escape, if you will.
Of all the magazine covers he has done, an August Time cover with Trump’s face melting down like a wax candle is one of his favorites.
“Magazine covers should start a conversation,” he said. “And that one did a good job of doing that.”
An illustration for the Nov. 12 issue of German weekly Der Spiegel was recently voted the country’s best of 2016 by a panel of 34 editors and creative directors.
A controversial Der Spiegel cover of Trump with a bloody sword in one hand and the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty in the other caused quit a stir when it was published last year. Rodriguez has said the idea was to depict Trump as a terrorist.
“Terrorism can be defined in many ways,” he told Adweek in March. “To me, it’s when you t e r r o r i z e p e o p l e , wh e n y o u make their lives miserable. I felt [Trump’s travel ban] was a form of terrorism.”
Rodriguez has also done book covers and posters.
His work is in the collections of a variety of institutions, including the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
Rodriguez lives in New York City and runs his own art studio — light years away from his days as a child in Havana.