You might have never heard of Edel Rodriguez before but chances are you’ve seen his work on any number of magazines over the years. The 45-year-old Cuban-American artist’s provocative work has caught the attention of fans and critics alike, but his most recent contribution to magazine Der Spiegel, a German publication with a circulation of around 1 million, has stirred controversy and heated debate.
The cover of Der Spiegel features President Trump holding the Statue of Liberty’s head as if it was beheaded.
my new cover art for @DerSPIEGEL magazine pic.twitter.com/Lz4KH8ySGx
— Edel Rodriguez (@edelstudio) February 3, 2017
According to BBC News, Edel Rodriguez said the image depicts Trump’s “beheading of democracy.”
The cover was inspired by President Trump’s controversial “immigration ban.”
If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017
For Rodriguez, the Statue of Liberty symbolizes the importance of immigration in U.S. history — an important theme in his work.
Rodriguez designed this cover for Time magazine 20 years ago.
Edel Rodriguez created the Der Spiegel cover to compare ISIS to President Trump, both of which he considers to be extremists.
The Washington Post reports that Edel Rodriguez, who fled Cuba in 1980 when he was 9 years old, was “angered” by President Trump’s immigration “ban.”
The Der Spiegel cover isn’t the first time Edel Rodriguez has drawn inspiration from President Trump.
This Time cover highlighted a tumultuous time in Trump’s campaign last August. He had just replaced his campaign manager with Kellyanne Conway and brought Stephen Bannon aboard. At the time it appeared that Trump’s ship was sinking, however, this ultimately proved wrong.
Edel’s “Meltdown” motif was updated a few months later after Trump’s campaign suffered another major hit.
This cover came shortly after the leaked audio between Donald Trump and Billy Bush surfaced, and around the same time as the disastrous final debate. Polls at the time suggested Trump’s chances to win the presidency were very slim. Again, this proved wrong.
Edel Rodriguez’s work has been featured on the cover of Der Spiegel before. The image featured a familiar face.
Yep, Donald Trump. This cover was released a few days after the November elections and features the title: “The End Of The World (as we know it).”
Though Rodriguez’s design for Der Spiegel has drawn a lot of criticism, the Cuban-American artist defends his choice.
Rodriguez defended himself on Instagram, saying, “history has shown that shedding light on hate is better than hiding it so here you go.”
Rodriguez has his own reasons for his disdain of Trump’s policies, not the least of which is that he is a Cuban refugee.
“I don’t want to live in a dictatorship,” Rodriguez told the Washington Post. “If I wanted to live in a dictatorship, I’d live in Cuba, where it’s much warmer.”
