Steve McQueen (b. London, 1969; lives and works in London and Amsterdam) is one of the most important artists, film-makers and screenwriters working today. Over the past twenty-five years, McQueen has been influential in expanding the way artists work with film, focusing his radical vision on the complexity of the human condition and, in a touching and provocative way, addressing contemporary issues and subjects such as identity and belonging.
He has created not only some of the most seminal works of moving images designed for gallery-based presentation, but also four feature films for cinematic release: Widows (2018), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Shame (2010), and Hunger (2008). In 2020, the artist realized his first mini-series in five episodes Small Axe and, recently, the documentaries Uprising (2021), Black Power: A British History of Resistance (2021) and Subnormal: A British Scandal (2021).
Organized in collaboration with Tate Modern in London (13 February – 6 September 2020), the show at Pirelli HangarBicocca will feature a new selection of works and alongside a number of the artist’s most iconic pieces, it will present also a new work. The exhibition will reveal McQueen’s pioneering approach to filmmaking and will be an opportunity to experience the depth of his visual art career.