Screenprint on acrylic sheet with painted lightbox
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joe-tilson-2043" aria-label="More by Joe Tilson" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joe Tilson</a>
Transparency I Yuri Gagarin 12 April 1961
Presented by the artist 1976
abstraction
adults
astronaut
body
clothing and personal items
educational and scientific
emotions, concepts and ideas
exploration: first man in space, 12 Apr 1961
exploration: Space Age, late 20th c.
formal qualities
Gagarin, Yuri
geometric
head / face
helmet
history
individuals: male
man
named individuals
non-representational
objects
people
photographic
politics and society
portraits
work and occupations
<p>Tilson was one of the founders of British pop art in the early 1960s, and his prolific production of screenprints reflected his growing political activism and critique of consumerism. Taking imagery from newspapers, Tilson portrayed political figures and significant moments in contemporary history, such as Marxist revolutionary and commander in the Cuban revolution Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, or Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin who was the first human to travel in space. The artist said in 1975: ‘I’ve been trying to rub out the categories of both the print as minor medium and what you could do in a print’.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2018</em></p>
relief screenprint acrylic sheet painted lightbox
30 June 2004 – 26 September 2004
2004-09-26
30 June 2004 – 26 September 2004
2004-09-26
2004-06-30
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
23 October 2004 – 3 April 2005
2005-04-03
2004-10-23
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (Birmingham, UK)
http://www.bmag.org.uk
28 October 2005 – 5 February 2006
2006-02-05
2005-10-28
National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia)
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au
25 February 2006 – 2 July 2006
2006-07-02
2006-02-25
Auckland Art Gallery (Auckland, New Zealand)
2004-06-30
Art and the Sixties: This was Tomorrow
Collection based display
25 October 2004 – 31 December 2005
2005-12-31
25 October 2004 – 3 April 2005
2005-04-03
2004-10-25
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (Birmingham, UK)
http://www.bmag.org.uk
28 October 2005 – 5 February 2006
2006-02-05
2005-10-28
National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia)
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au
25 February 2006 – 28 May 2006
2006-05-28
2006-02-25
Auckland Art Gallery (Auckland, New Zealand)
2004-10-25
This was Tomorrow: Art & the 60s
Loan-out
25 September 2008 – 4 January 2009
2009-01-04
25 September 2008 – 11 January 2009
2009-01-11
2008-09-25
Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK)
http://www.vam.ac.uk
28 March 2009 – 26 July 2009
2009-07-26
2009-03-28
Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (Rovereto, Italy)
http://www.mart.trento.it
1 October 2009 – 15 December 2009
2009-12-15
2009-10-01
National Gallery of Art (Vilnius, Lithuania)
2008-09-25
Cold War Modern: Art and Design in a Divided World
Loan-out
30 June 2012 – 7 October 2012
2012-10-07
30 June 2012 – 7 October 2012
2012-10-07
2012-06-30
Compton Verney (Compton Verney, UK)
2012-06-30
Flight and the artistic imagination
Loan-out
3 August 2015 – 31 July 2016
2016-07-31
3 August 2015 – 31 July 2016
2016-07-31
2015-08-03
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2015-08-03
Richard Hamilton
Collection based display
2 April 2018 – 25 March 2019
2019-03-25
2 April 2018 – 25 March 2019
2019-03-25
2018-04-02
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2018-04-02
'Sixty Years' refresh TG.040 - TG.048
Collection based display
19 December 2022
22 November 2021
2021-11-22
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-12-19
Gallery 35
Collection based display
Transparency I: Yuri Gagarin 12 April 1961
object: 1219 × 1219 × 100 mm
Presented by the artist 1976
<div class="text">
<p>Tilson was one of the founders of British pop art in the early 1960s, and his prolific production of screenprints reflected his growing political activism and critique of consumerism. Taking imagery from newspapers, Tilson portrayed political figures and significant moments in contemporary history, such as Marxist revolutionary and commander in the Cuban revolution Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, or Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin who was the first human to travel in space. The artist said in 1975: ‘I’ve been trying to rub out the categories of both the print as minor medium and what you could do in a print’.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2018-09-05T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
abstraction adults astronaut body clothing and personal items educational and scientific emotions, concepts and ideas exploration: first man in space, 12 Apr 1961 exploration: Space Age, late 20th c. formal qualities Gagarin, Yuri geometric head / face helmet history individuals: male man named individuals non-representational objects people photographic politics and society portraits work and occupations