Steve McQueen: Year 3 exhibition book

This beautiful exhibition book documents Steve McQueen’s Year 3 exhibition: a vision of Britain's future from one of it's most important artists, and one of the most ambitious visual portraits of citizenship ever undertaken.

Using the medium of the traditional school class photograph, this epic work captures tens of thousands of London schoolchildren from a single academic year. Mapping a picture of the present, the artwork captures a milestone year in a child’s personal development: the moment when they become more conscious of the world beyond their immediate family. It is a critical time for them to develop confidence in all areas of life, to understand more about their place in the changing world and to think about the future. Depicting rows of children sitting or standing alongside their teachers and teaching assistants, Year 3 reflects this moment of excitement, anxiety and hope.

Year 3 is more than a portrait of a generation however: it documents and explores, in a way never before attempted, a range of urgent ideas connected to the UK, and to our world, today. This catalogue takes the photographs as a starting point and looks ahead, commenting on and contextualising the artwork and its message, but also providing a platform for new voices, and a new set of ideas. Year 3 is less a commemoration and more an active extension of the artwork itself: ‘a glimpse of the capital’s future, a hopeful portrait of a generation to come.’

Please note that the Year 3 publication contains only 300 of the 3,128 exhibition class photographs in total. If you would like to find out if your school has a photograph included, please contact: shop@tate.org.uk

Sir Steve McQueen CBE was born in 1969 in London; he lives and works in London and Amsterdam. Large-scale surveys of McQueen's work have been held at Tate Modern in 2020, the Schaulager, Basel in 2013 and the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012. Forthcoming institutional shows include Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2022). Recent solo presentations include Steve McQueen: Year 3, Tate Britain, London, (2019–2021), and exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Massachusetts (2017); The Whitworth, Manchester (2017); the Pérez Art Museum, Miami (2017); The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2017); the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois (2017); and The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2016). McQueen has previously participated in Documenta XII (2007), XI (2002) and X (1997), and the Venice Biennale (2015, 2013, 2007 and 2003), representing Great Britain in Venice in 2009. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including KBE (Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 2020, Johannes Vermeer Prize in 2016, Harvard University, W.E.B. Du Bois Medal in 2014, CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2011, OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 2002 and the Turner Prize, Tate Gallery, London, England in 1999. McQueen has directed four feature films: Hunger, 2008, Shame, 2011, 12 Years a Slave, 2014, and Widows 2018, as well as the series Small Axe, an anthology of five films shown on BBC and Amazon (2020). He won the Caméra d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival for Hunger in 2008 and the Oscar for the Best Motion Picture for 12 Years a Slave in 2014.

• Artist Steven McQueen
• Artwork Year 3
• Exhibition Year 3
• Dimensions 24.7 x 32 cm
• Material FSC certified paper and card
• Edition 15
• ISBN 9781849767767
• Hardback Yes
• Number of illustrations 370
• No of pages 400