Ernesto Yerena Montejano got his start as an assistant for Shepard Fairey, but soon after came into his own as a gifted artist in his own right. While it’s easy to see the OBEY influence in his print-work, Yerena primarily focuses on his own heritage, drawing on cultural subjects and issues within the Chicano community through his “Hecho Con Ganas” project. Based on an original mixed-media stencil collage on paper for White Walls Gallery, El Che is a screenprint available in 2 colorways and limited to a run of 100 of each. While portraits of Ernesto Che Guevara are numerous and overdone, there is something about Yerena’s interpretation that is original, and haunting. For one, the details on this stencil are incredible, the shadows in the brow, the whiskers in the beard, everything falls right into place where it should. The fact that they’ve been printed on Coventry Rag paper with hand-torn edges, add to the raw power the image of Che conveys. Straight up, Ernesto Yerena manages to make a tired, overused South American cultural icon relevant once again.
El Che will be available at HechoConGanas.com today.
More detailed pics after the jump.
