WORM

A Cuban American Odyssey​​​

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EDEL RODRIGUEZ

MAY 14 - JULY 25, 2026 

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ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

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Cuban-American artist Edel Rodriguez has developed his work based on his personal experiences, religious rituals, politics, memory, and nostalgia. His figurative creations highlight issues related to identity, cultural displacement, and mortality. 

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Born in Havana in 1971, he grew up in El Gabriel, an agricultural village surrounded by tobacco and sugarcane fields. In 1980, during the exodus from the port of Mariel, Edel Rodriguez and his family left Cuba for the United States aboard the "Nature Boy." Since then, he has pursued a career as an art director, illustrator, and visual artist. 

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WORM refers to the term used by Fidel Castro to describe Cubans wishing to leave the country after the 1959 revolution. Through images, paintings, and sculptures, Edel Rodriguez explores the deprivation of liberty and fleeing, drawing a parallel between the Cuban regime and the American administration under Donald Trump. The exhibition powerfully echoes the graphic novel published by Bayard Graphic’, which addresses the fundamental question of freedom and the threats it faces.

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View AMERICAN MASTERS PBS documentary