Muhammad Speaks 1970

Curator: Joe Tilson created "Muhammad Speaks" in 1970, a print now held at the Tate. What are your immediate thoughts? Editor: Stark. The contrasting images—Malcolm X, a handgun, repeating figures—it’s like a page torn from a revolutionary manifesto. Curator: The materiality is crucial. Tilson uses printmaking to mimic mass media, mirroring how ideas are disseminated. It democratizes the image, making it accessible. Editor: Absolutely, and the symbols! The crescent moon and star, the recurring figures, each carries weighty cultural implications. It speaks to identity, power, resistance... Curator: And production. Each print in the edition, likely made with the artist’s hand, resists complete mechanical reproduction. There's labor involved, unlike a newsprint. Editor: Ultimately, these recurring visual motifs reinforce the symbolic narrative. Tilson turns a likeness of Malcom X into a potent image that will endure. Curator: A potent image, indeed, and one deeply embedded in the material conditions of its making. Editor: Agreed; both symbolic and substantial.