After successfully reopening all four Tate galleries last week, Tate Modern is pleased to announce that its Steve McQueen exhibition will also be reopening on Friday 7 August and will be extended to 6 September 2020. First launched in February, the acclaimed exhibition spanning 20 years of McQueen’s work has been modified with new visitor signage to aid social distancing and will reopen with a reduced visitor capacity.
Celebrated for his powerful and uncompromising vision, Steve McQueen creates work that addresses the urgent issues of representation, identity and history. Featuring 14 major works spanning film, photography and sculpture, the exhibition at Tate Modern is an unprecedented opportunity to experience the depth of McQueen’s visual art career in this country for the first time since he received the Turner Prize in 1999.
The exhibition joins the three existing Tate Modern visitor routes now available to pre-book online at tate.org.uk/visit. In line with latest Government advice, visitors to Steve McQueen will be required to wear face coverings inside the exhibition – one of a wide range of careful measures put in place to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all.
Frances Morris, Director, Tate Modern said: “It’s been incredibly moving to see our visitors return to Tate Modern and we’re delighted by how understanding and conscientious everyone is being in the galleries. Building on what we have seen and learned over the past week, we have taken the time to ensure Steve McQueen’s landmark exhibition can now be reopened safely and in line with all the necessary guidelines. I’m so pleased that this poignant and timely show will once again be accessible to the public.
Steve McQueen said: “I remember my first school trip to Tate when I was an impressionable 8-year-old, which was really the moment I gained an understanding that anything is possible. As we all gradually emerge from lockdown, and in some ways begin to see the world anew, I hope visitors experience that same sense of possibility.”
This major exhibition coincides with McQueen’s latest artwork Year 3, recently extended at Tate Britain until 31 January 2021, an epic portrait of London’s Year 3 pupils created through a partnership between Tate, Artangel and A New Direction. Steve McQueen at Tate Modern is curated by Clara Kim, The Daskalopoulos Senior Curator, with Fiontán Moran, Assistant Curator, Tate Modern and is organised in collaboration with Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan. The exhibition is supported by the Steve McQueen Exhibition Supporters Circle, Tate International Council and Tate Patrons. It is accompanied by a catalogue featuring an in-depth interview with the artist by Hamza Walker and essays by Paul Gilroy, Clara Kim, Solveig Nelson and Clarrie Wallis.
ABOUT STEVE Mc QUEEN
Steve McQueen was born in London in 1969 and currently lives and works in Amsterdam and London. His work is held in public collections around the world and solo exhibitions have been shown internationally including a major retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Schaulager, Basel in 2012–13. McQueen represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2009 and was awarded the Turner Prize in 1999. He received an OBE in 2002 and a CBE in 2011 and was given a knighthood in the 2020 Queen’s New Year Honours list for his service to both the art and film industries.
McQueen has directed four feature films: Hunger (2008), Shame (2011), 12 Years a Slave (2014), and Widows (2018). He won the Caméra d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival for Hunger and the Oscar for the Best Motion Picture for 12 Years a Slave in 2014.