Adidas de Castro
Castro’s Adidas I (2016)
Official Cuban newspaper Granma glued on transparent canvas, cut out and mounted on Adidas logo silkscreen. Framed in an object frame
80 x 100 cm
The work ‘Castro’s Adidas I’ (2016) is presented within the exhibition as a link between the room dedicated to the German press, which invites reflection on its cultural influence, and the other room, which focuses on the narrative of a totalitarian regime.
The work stages the tension between the socialist rhetoric of the Cuban Revolution and the adoption of values or symbols inherent to capitalism. The image of a Castro ‘sponsored’ (though not actually sponsored) by a commercial brand illustrates the paradox of maintaining an official anti-imperialist discourse while adopting, out of necessity or convenience, global practices inherent to capitalist consumption.
This contrast becomes a powerful artistic resource highlighting the internal contradictions of political and economic discourses in post-Soviet Cuba.
The Adidas logo, screen-printed in red on white cardboard as a backdrop, becomes a potent symbol that combines elements of visual identity with ideological critique. The colour red, historically associated with revolution and socialism, is ironically fused with an emblematic brand of global consumerism, creating a tension between evoking revolutionary ideals and introducing a sign of capitalism.
