Born in London, England in 1969, Steve McQueen is an artist, film director, and screenwriter currently based in London and Amsterdam. His themes are universal and often focus on painful biographies. McQueen has mastered the art of minimalist storytelling to deliver the utmost impact on his viewers.  In his own words he “wants to put the public in a situation where everyone becomes acutely sensitive to themselves, to their body and respiration.” 

He has directed four feature films, most recently Widows (2018). His first, Hunger (2008), was awarded the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and his third, 12 Years a Slave (2013), received the Golden Globe, Oscar, and BAFTA awards for best picture in 2014.

Ashes, 2002 – 2015

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In 2013 McQueen returned to Grenada and discovered that Ashes had been shot dead by drug dealers. The artist then decided to record the story of his death. A second film, shot in 16mm, shows Ashes’s tomb being constructed and the etching of a memorial plaque for his grave. The soundtrack features two local men telling the story of how Ashes discovered a stash of drugs, stole them and was then hunted down and killed by a gang of dealers.
In the final installation, titled Ashes, McQueen’s two films are shown back-to-back on a single screen, the vibrant life depicted in one countered by the tragic tale of death in the other.

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