Login
Login

Edel Rodriguez

{{Short description|Cuban-American painter}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2016}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Edel Rodriguez

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|08|22|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Havana, Cuba

| field = illustration, fine artist

| training = {{ubl|Pratt Institute (BFA)|Hunter College (MFA)}}

}}

Edel Rodriguez (born August 22, 1971, in Havana, Cuba) is a Cuban American artist, illustrator, and children's book author. Using a variety of materials, his work ranges from conceptual to portraiture and landscape. Socialist propaganda and western advertising, island culture, and contemporary city life, are all aspects of his life that inform his work.

Early life and education

Image:Mariel Refugees.jpg

Until the age of 9, Rodriguez lived in the Cuban countryside town of El Gabriel. In an interview conducted by Yuko Shimizu, Rodriguez described his earliest visual influences as military, revolutionary and nationalist imagery.{{cite web|title=Illustration Friday Interview |url=http://illustrationfriday.com/2009/07/if-interview-with-edel-rodriguez/ |accessdate=2013-04-13 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022170405/http://illustrationfriday.com/2009/07/if-interview-with-edel-rodriguez/ |archivedate=October 22, 2013 |df=mdy }} In 1980, Rodriguez emigrated to the United States with his father, Cesareo Rodriguez, his mother, Coralia Rodriguez, and his sister Irma, as part of the thousands of Cubans who arrived in the Mariel boatlift.{{cite web | title=Pippin Properties Biography | url =http://www.pippinproperties.com/authors-illustrators/edel-rodriguez/ | accessdate = 2013-04-13 }} His family arrived in Key West and since the Cuban government had taken possession of the family's home, car, furniture, and clothes, the Rodriguez family had little to start a new life with. The family moved in with relatives in Miami, Florida where Edel's father established a trucking business. Within a couple of years of arriving in the US, Rodriguez had mastered the language to the point that he became a Spelling Bee champion.{{cite web | title=American Institute of Graphic Arts Biography | url =http://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-edel-rodriguez// | accessdate = 2013-04-13 }} Rodriguez graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in 1990.

After graduation from high school, Rodriguez attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. While a student at Pratt, Rodriguez interned at Spy magazine, MTV and Penguin Books.{{cite web|title=Edel Rodriguez|url=https://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-edel-rodriguez|publisher=AIGA|accessdate=2016-10-04}} After graduating from Pratt with honors and earning a BFA in painting on a full scholarship, Rodriguez went on to earn a M.F.A. from Hunter College in 1998.{{cite web | title=Illoz Biography | url =http://illoz.com/edel/?section=about | accessdate = 2013-04-13 }}

In 1991, Rodriguez met Jennifer Roth; the two married in 1997.{{cite book |last1=Heller |first1=Steven |last2= Fernandes |first2=Teresa |year=2010 |title=Becoming a Graphic Designer | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | page=275}}

Work

In 1994 Rodriguez began work as an art director for Time magazine. At 26, Rodriguez was the youngest art director to ever work on Time's Canadian and Latin American editions. He held this position until 2008, when he began dedicating all of his time to art and commercial illustration. While working at Time, Rodriguez produced a significant amount of illustration work, the majority of which was done in the evenings. Some of the more memorable commercial works produced during this period were his June 27, 2005 Time magazine cover for China's New Revolution in which Mao Zedong is depicted wearing Louis Vuitton,{{Cite web|title=TIME Magazine Cover: China's New Revolution|url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20050627,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626082942/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20050627,00.html|archive-date=June 26, 2006}} and his May/June 2006 cover for Communication Arts depicting Che Guevara wearing a Nike logo and Apple headphones.{{Cite web|title=Communications Arts 2006 May/June Issue|url=http://www.commerce.commarts.com/shop/detail.asp?prod=ISS200605|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204050933/http://www.commerce.commarts.com/shop/detail.asp?prod=ISS200605|archive-date=February 4, 2013}} The Time cover depicting Mao Zedong was later used in 2009 as the cover for Lürzer's 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide.

Throughout his career, Rodriguez has utilized a variety of artistic media including paint, printmaking, pastel, line drawing as well as digital manipulation.

Rodriguez' work has been published by magazines such as The New Yorker, Time, Rolling Stone, Fortune and others. Rodriguez' work has also been used by corporate clients such as MTV, Pepsi Inc and others. Rodriguez' work also appears regularly on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times.{{cite book |last1=Kraus |first1=Jerelle |year=2012 |title=All The Art That's Fit To Print | publisher=Columbia University Press | page=237}}

In 2005, the U.S. Postal Service released the Cha-Cha-Cha stamp, illustrated by Rodriguez.{{Cite web|url=https://www.commarts.com/project/6203/cha-cha-cha-stamp|title = Cha Cha Cha stamp}}

=In the news=

For the 2015 February 8 issue of Newsweek, the cover story by Nina Burleigh was illustrated by Rodriguez.{{cite news |title=Newsweek Feb 8 2015 issue|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2015/02/06/issue.html|website=Newsweek|accessdate=2016-10-03}} The cover image, portraying a woman with her skirt being lifted up by a computer cursor created controversy,{{cite news |last1=Sklar|first1=Rachel|title=Sexism still alive and well in Silicon Valley (and on Newsweek cover)|url=http://www.today.com/news/sexism-still-alive-silicon-valley-newsweek-cover-2D80459522|website=Today|accessdate=2016-10-03}} with some calling it a faceless and sexualized symbol of women.{{cite web|last1=Tsotsis|first1=Alexia|title=What (Some) Silicon Valley Women Think Of Newsweek|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/29/ethics-in-cursor-molestation-journalism/|website=Tech Crunch|date=January 30, 2015 |accessdate=2016-10-03}} The cover image also created what NBC News described as a "firestorm" on Twitter, after the website Jezebel derided the illustration.{{cite news |last1=Bhattacharjee|first1=Riya|title="Ugh! That Newsweek Cover": Silicon Valley Women Respond|url=http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Newsweeks-What-Silicon-Valley-Thinks-of-Women-Cover-Sparks-Twitter-Firestorm-290234021.html|publisher=KNTV |accessdate=2016-10-03}}{{cite news |last1=Alba|first1=Alejandro|title=Newsweek's cover story about sexism in Silicon Valley sparks controversy |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/newsweek-cover-illustration-sparks-online-controversy-article-1.2096910|newspaper=New York Daily News|accessdate=2016-10-03}} Burleigh, who wrote the cover story, described the critical comments as petty.{{cite news |last1=Brekke|first1=Kira|title=Newsweek Correspondent: Outrage Over Latest February Cover Is 'Petty' |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/newsweek-sexist-february-cover_n_6596120.html |work=The Huffington Post|accessdate=2016-10-03}} On PBS, Rodriguez defended the work saying "it’s not sexist, it depicts the ugliness of sexism".{{cite news |last1=Tam|first1=Ruth|title=Artist behind Newsweek cover|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/artist-behind-newsweek-cover|work=PBS Newshour |access-date=2016-10-03}}

For the August 22, 2016, issue of Time, editor-in-chief Nancy Gibbs focused their cover on Republican Donald Trump's presidential campaign, with the cover title Meltdown. DW Pine commissioned Rodriguez for the cover illustration.{{cite magazine |title=Meltdown|url=https://time.com/4448052/in-the-latest-issue-80/|magazine=Time |access-date=2016-10-03}}{{cite news |last1=Welton|first1=Casey|title=The Cover Story: Time Captures Trump's Meltdown|url=http://www.minonline.com/the-cover-story-time/|publisher=min|accessdate=2016-10-03}} The cover appeared on various news broadcasts, including PBS{{cite AV media |title=Donald Trump's meltdown, the debate over debates and Walmart moms face tough choice |via=YouTube |publisher=PBS |date=August 12, 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXLNPzBm0mw}} and MSNBC,{{cite AV media |title=Time puts Trump's 'meltdown' front and center |work=Morning Joe |date=August 11, 2016 |publisher=MSNBC |url=http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/time-puts-trump-s-meltdown-front-and-center-742242883862}} as well as generating news coverage in such magazines and newspapers as The Washington Post{{cite news |last1=Borchers|first1=Callum|title=Donald Trump should hate this Time magazine cover, but he'll probably hang it in his office|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/11/donald-trump-should-hate-this-time-magazine-cover-but-hell-probably-hang-it-in-his-office/|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=2016-10-03}} and People.{{cite web|last1=McAfee|first1=Tierney|title=Inside Trump's Meltdown|url=http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-meltdown-time-magazine-cover|website=People Magazine|accessdate=2016-10-03}}

For the February 4, 2017, issue of Der Spiegel, Rodriguez's cover image depicting President Donald Trump holding the Statue of Liberty's severed head in one hand and a knife in the other, with the cover title America First{{Cite web|title=DER SPIEGEL 6/2017 - Inhaltsverzeichnis|url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/index-2017-6.html|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-01|website=www.spiegel.de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205182213/http://www.spiegel.de:80/spiegel/print/index-2017-6.html |archive-date=February 5, 2017 }} generated news coverage in such publications as The Washington Post,{{cite news |last1=Borchers|first1=Callum|title=This Der Spiegel Trump cover is stunning|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/03/trump-beheads-the-statue-of-liberty-in-striking-magazine-cover-illustration/|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=2017-02-05}} The Guardian,{{cite news |title=German magazine defends cover of Trump beheading Statue of Liberty|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/05/germany-der-spiegel-cover-trump-statue-of-liberty|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=2017-02-04}} Newsweek{{cite news |title=Der Spiegel: Trump Beheading Cover About 'Defending Democracy'|url=http://www.newsweek.com/der-spiegel-trump-beheading-cover-defend-democracy-552842|website=Newsweek|agency=Reuters|accessdate=2017-02-05}} and other news outlets. The cover image was described as tasteless by vice-president of the European Parliament, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff{{cite news |title=Der Spiegel: Trump beheading cover sparks criticism|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38867961|work=BBC News|accessdate=2017-02-05}} and defended by Der Spiegel editor-in-chief Klaus Brinkbaeumer, who commented that he was surprised by the impact of the illustration.

The August 28th, 2017 issue of Time, titled Hate in America, focused on a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia,{{cite news |last1=Dwyer|first1=Colin|title=Charlottesville Rally Aimed To Defend A Confederate Statue. It May Have Doomed Others|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/14/543471538/charlottesville-rally-aimed-to-defend-a-confederate-statue-it-may-have-doomed-ot|publisher=NPR |accessdate=2017-08-18}} that resulted in the death of 2 police officers and a 32-year-old women.{{cite news|last1=Bowman|first1=Emma|title=Charlottesville Victim Heather Heyer 'Stood Up' Against What She Felt Was Wrong|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/13/543175919/violence-in-charlottesville-claims-3-victims |publisher=NPR |accessdate=2017-08-18}} Illustrated by Rodriguez,{{cite magazine |last1=Pine|first1=DJ|title=Behind TIME's 'Hate in America' Cover|url=https://time.com/4903680/edel-rodriguez-time-cover/|magazine=Time |access-date=2017-08-18}} the cover art, depicting a protester giving a Nazi salute while draped in an American flag was covered in the news by CNN{{cite news |last1=Wattles|first1=Jackie|title=Top magazines take on Trump and hate|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/08/17/media/trump-time-new-yorker-economist-magazine-covers/index.html |publisher=CNNMoney|accessdate=2017-08-17}} and Market Watch.{{cite news |last1=Murphy|first1=Mike|title=Hate in America: 3 devastating magazine covers on Charlottesville's aftermath|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hate-in-america-3-devastating-magazine-covers-on-charlottesvilles-aftermath-2017-08-17|publisher=Market Watch|accessdate=2017-08-18}}

In early 2018, Rodriguez met U2's stage designer, Es Devlin, at the Design Indaba Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. An upcoming U2 tour, eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE, was still being developed at that time and Rodriguez was brought in to create 40 works of art that would be shown prominently during the pre-show and prior to the second act of the performance. His illustrations incorporated text from the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, with texts such as "When the government becomes destructive it is the right of the people to abolish it" and slogans such as "Poverty Is Sexist" and "Educate a girl, empower a community." Works produced for this event also covered social issues such as immigration, gun violence, and free speech with signs that read, "Refugees Welcome", and "Fight Back!".{{cite news |title=America's Illustrator-In-Chief|url=https://www.u2.com/news/title/americas-illustrator-in-chief/ |publisher=U2|date=2018-07-07}}

= Theatrical posters =

= Film posters =

  • Celia the Queen directed by Joe Cardona, Mario de Varona (2008), with Celia Cruz, David Byrne, Wyclef Jean, Quincy Jones, Narciso Rodriguez
  • Heaven on Earth directed by Deepa Mehta, (2008), starring Preity Zinta
  • Reportero directed by Bernardo Ruiz
  • The Graduates/Los Graduados PBS documentary directed by Bernardo Ruiz (2013)
  • The Tragedy of Macbeth directed by Joel Coen (2021)

{{cite web |url=http://www.quietpictures.com/graduates.php |title=Quiet Pictures |website=www.quietpictures.com |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801041256/http://www.quietpictures.com/graduates.php |archive-date=1 August 2013 |url-status=dead}}

= Book covers =

  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (50th Anniversary Edition, 2008){{Cite web|url=http://www.drawger.com/edel/?section=gallery&gallery_id=232&image_id=9686|title = Edel Rodriguez - image gallery}}
  • The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (25th Anniversary Edition, 2009){{Cite web|url=http://www.drawger.com/edel/?article_id=7138|title = Edel Rodriguez}}
  • In The Sea There are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda{{Cite web|title=In the Sea There Are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda: 9780307743824 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/210089/in-the-sea-there-are-crocodiles-by-fabio-geda/|access-date=2021-09-01|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US}}
  • Illustrators 51 published by the Society of Illustrators (2010){{Cite web |url=http://societyillustrators.org/SI_Shop.aspx?id=1636&terms=rodriguez |title=The Society of Illustrators: Illustrators 51 |access-date=May 11, 2013 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233231/http://www.societyillustrators.org/SI_Shop.aspx?id=1636&terms=rodriguez |url-status=dead }}

= Children's book illustrator =

  • Mama Does the Mambo by Katherine Leiner (2001) ({{ISBN|0-7868-0646-X}})
  • Float Like a Butterfly by Ntozake Shange (2002) ({{ISBN|0786805544}})
  • Oye, Celia! by Katie Sciurba (2007) ({{ISBN|0805074686}})
  • Sonia Sotomayor by Jonah Winter (2009) ({{ISBN|9781442403031}})
  • Robomop by Sean Taylor (2013) ({{ISBN|9780803734111}})

= Children's book author and illustrator =

  • Sergio Makes a Splash (2008) ({{ISBN|9780316066167}})
  • Sergio Saves The Game (2009) ({{ISBN|9780316066174}})

= Art exhibitions =

  • Dystopia, solo exhibition at Curly Tale Fine Art, Chicago, 2013{{cite web | title=Curly Tale Fine Art | url =http://curlytalefineart.com/section/378116_Edel_Rodriguez.html }}
  • Here | There, solo exhibition at Gallery Nucleus, 2010{{cite web | title=Gallery Nucleus | url =http://www.gallerynucleus.com/gallery/pieces/220 | date =February 20, 2010 }}
  • Curator Power Pens: The Art of Politics, Society of Illustrators (2008){{cite web | title=Society of Publication Designers | author=Amid Capeci | url=http://www.spd.org/2008/09/paint-passion-politics.php | date=December 8, 2008 | access-date=May 24, 2013 | archive-date=May 2, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502221833/http://www.spd.org/2008/09/paint-passion-politics.php | url-status=dead }}

Awards and honors

  • Named one of 50 Most Creative People of the Year, 2016, by AdAge{{cite web|title=The Most Creative People of the Year|date=December 19, 2016 |url=http://adage.com/article/news/creativity-50-2016-creative-people-year/307209/ |publisher=Advertising Age|accessdate=2016-12-20}}
  • Best Cover Winner, American Society of Magazine Editors, 2016{{cite web | title=American Society of Magazine Editors | url=http://www.magazine.org/asme/best-cover-contest-2016-winners-finalists | accessdate = 2016-03-17}}
  • Gold Medal, (Book) Society of Illustrators 2012, Krapus, BLAB SHOW, art directed by Monte Beauchamp{{cite web | title=Society of Illustrators 54 Award Winners | url=https://soicompetitions.org/?what=gallery&c=70&i=44357 | accessdate = 2020-08-25}}
  • Silver Medal, Advertising Society of Illustrators 2011
  • Silver Medal(Book), 2009 Society of Illustrators, Things Fall Apart, Random House, art directed by Helen Yentus{{cite web|url=https://soicompetitions.org/?what=gallery&c=29&i=10608|title=Illustrators 51|accessdate=2020-08-25}}
  • Silver Medal (Advertising), 2009, Society of Illustrators, As You Like It, Soulpepper Theatre, art directed by Anthony Swaneveld{{cite web|url=https://soicompetitions.org/?what=gallery&c=29&i=10741|title=Illustrators 51 Award Winners|accessdate=2020-08-25}}
  • Bronze Cube, Art Directors Club (2011){{cite web | title=Art Directors Club Annual Awards | url=http://www.adcawards.org/designnight | accessdate=2013-05-11 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510043653/http://www.adcawards.org/designnight/ | archivedate=May 10, 2013 | df=mdy-all }}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{Official website|http://edelr.com/}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Edel}}

Category:American magazine illustrators

Category:1971 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American painters

Category:American male painters

Category:21st-century American painters

Category:20th-century American printmakers

Category:20th-century American male artists

Category:The New Yorker people