Steve McQueen

Opening September 20, 2024, Dia Chelsea

Overview

For more than 30 years, artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen has continually investigated the possibilities inherent in film—as a material, documentary tool, and storytelling medium—resulting in work that is formally inventive and politically pointed. Often delving into power relations, McQueen’s films and videos capture the experience of living both within and in opposition to hierarchical structures, critically examining current social issues by drawing on the histories of cinema and video art and the reduced formal vocabulary of Minimalism.

Steve McQueen at Dia Chelsea unites three works that explore narratives of the African diaspora from across two decades of the artist’s career. The presentation centers on Sunshine State (2022), a two-channel, dual-sided video projection that enlists a story about McQueen’s father to examine notions of identity and racial stereotypes. Originally commissioned by the International Film Festival Rotterdam, this presentation of Sunshine State marks its debuts on the East Coast of the United States, throwing its eponymous connection to Florida into sharp relief.

Also on view are Exodus (1992–97), one of McQueen’s earliest works, a film which follows two West Indian men through the streets of London, and Bounty (2024), a brand-new set of photographs featuring flowers found in Grenada, the artist’s parents’ place of origin. Taken together with Bass (2024), McQueen’s commission for Dia Beacon, on view concurrently, these two presentations interweave the personal and political across diverse spaces and media as McQueen meditates on his ancestry and the grand historical subject of the Middle Passage.

Steve McQueen is curated by Donna De Salvo, senior adjunct curator, special projects, with Emily Markert, curatorial assistant.

All exhibitions at Dia are made possible by the Economou Exhibition Fund.

Dia’s two-part presentation of Steve McQueen is made possible by major support from the Ford Foundation, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and Brenda R. Potter. Significant support is provided by the Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston; Marguerite Hoffman; Michelle and Bill Pohlad; and Salon Art + Design. Generous support is provided by Dia’s Director’s Council, and additional support by Sarah Arison; Ivor Braka Limited, London; Dorothy Lichtenstein; Tristin and Martin Mannion; Sotheby’s; Visiolite; and those who wish to remain anonymous. 

A concurrent presentation of McQueen’s Bass is on view at Dia Beacon, New York, May 12, 2024–May 2025. The publication accompanying Bass was made possible by the Laurenz Foundation. Additional support provided by Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris, and Los Angeles, and Thomas Dane Gallery, London and Naples.

Steve McQueen was born in London in 1969. Surveys of his work have been held at the Art Institute of Chicago and Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager Basel (2012–13); Tate Modern, London (2020); and Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan (2022). Recent solo presentations include those at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2016); the Art Institute of Chicago (2017); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2017); Pérez Art Museum, Miami (2017); Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (2017); Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2017–18); Tate Britain, London (2019–21); and Serpentine Gallery, London (2023). McQueen has participated in Documenta X (1997) and XI (2002), as well as the Venice Biennale (2003, 2007, 2013, and 2015), representing Great Britain in 2009. He isthe recipient of numerous awards, including the Turner Prize (1999); W. E. B. DuBois Medal, Harvard University (2014); and Johannes Vermeer Award (2016). He was declared Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2002, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2011, and Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order in 2020.

McQueen directed the feature films Hunger (2008), Shame (2011), 12 Years a Slave (2014), and Widows (2018); as well as the series Small Axe (2020), an anthology of five films shown on the BBC and Amazon; and Uprising (2021), a three-part documentary series for the BBC. His documentary Occupied City (2023) is based on the book Atlas van een bezette stad: Amsterdam 1940-1945 (Atlas of an Occupied City: Amsterdam 1940–1945, 2019) by Bianca Stigter. McQueen won the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Hunger in 2008 and an Oscar for Best Motion Picture for 12 Years a Slave in 2014.

McQueen lives in Amsterdam and London.

Steve McQueen | September 20, 2023

Steve McQueen | September 13, 2024

Steve McQueen at Dia Beacon

Steve McQueen at Dia Chelsea is complemented by a concurrent exhibition at Dia Beacon, a new installation co-commissioned with Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager Basel, on view through Spring 2025.