Steve McQueen

‘Making artworks is like poetry, in a way,’ according to internationally renowned British artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen (1969). In the same way a poet uses words, McQueen deploys images, texts and silences to elicit meaning via association and suggestion. By mingling the familiar and the unknown, he creates layered viewing experiences.

McQueen made a name for himself in the 1990s with his poetic, often minimalist video works and installations. Later, he gained worldwide fame as the director behind feature films including Hunger (2008), Shame (2011) and 12 Years a Slave (2013), the latter of which made him the first Black person to win the Oscar for best director. 

McQueen’s films and installations reflect his deep social engagement, which he links to individual human narratives, such as in the video work Sunshine State. Many of his works shine a spotlight on forgotten or repressed stories from history, often those of Black communities in the West. Recurring themes include injustice, oppression and physical vulnerability. McQueen demonstrates how power is exercised – explicitly or subtly – and shows the personal and collective marks it leaves behind. The human body often plays a central role in this as the object on which power exerts itself, but also as a powerful means of resistance. 

McQueen deploys images and text, sound and silence, slowing-down and repetition to construct his installations and video works. He uses these elements to guide the viewer’s experience. Taken as a whole, they tell (or suggest) the stories and ideas he wants to share, as is the case in his film Gravesend. While at first, his photos seem to simply register ordinary objects, they are charged with hidden meanings. In his installations, McQueen explores how images and sounds can fill a space and engage all of the viewer’s senses. For him, seeing and hearing trigger a bodily experience as well.