Steve McQueen: Running Thunder 9 Oct - 10 Nov 2007 11 Duke Street, St James's

Thomas Dane Gallery is pleased to present a new 16mm film by Steve McQueen, which is a resolute departure in mood and scope from his other recent works. In his distinctive presentation of a supine animal in a grassy field, McQueen tackles again conventions of the film genre, through extreme economy of means and lightness of touch.

As official War Artist to Iraq, McQueen has just unveiled his response to the commission Queen and Country at the Imperial War Museum. Here, he presents, not a film, but a unique collaboration with the families of deceased British service personnel, with the ultimate goal of an official set of stamps bearing the portraits of the lost soldiers.

Steve McQueen's recent film Gravesend/Unexploded(Handheld) was commissioned for the Italian pavilion of the 52nd Venice Biennale. The film's subject is coltan, a mineral so valuable it is proving to be the new blood diamond. Shot in the Congo and the UK, the film addresses the global economy's renewed engagement with the 'scramble for Africa' through the prism of Joseph Conrad's, 'Heart of Darkness'.

McQueen is currently shooting his first feature length film, commissioned by Channel 4 Film, an account of the last days of the Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands. This is due for release at the end of 2008. 

Editor's Notes

Born in London in 1969, McQueen graduated from Goldsmith's College in 1993 before studying at Tisch School of the Arts in New York University. In 1999 he was awarded the Turner Prize and in 2002 presented Carib's Leap/Western Deep for his Artangel commission. He was awarded an OBE in the same year. McQueen has had solo exhibitions at the Fondazione Prada, Milan; Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Kunsthalle, Vienna; Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo; Kunsthalle Zurich; DAAD Berlin; and the ICA, London. McQueen lives and works in London and Amsterdam. The artist will be available for interview by appointment.