Steve McQueen:Queen and Country

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   Steve McQueen, the artist and film maker, was the official war artist for the Iraq war in 2003 and decided to honour the soldiers who died in the ongoing conflict by producing a sheet of stamps for each of 160 soldiers. These were then placed in a cabinet with sliding frames featuring the sheets. 

More information can be found here:

http://www.artfund.org/queenandcountry/Queen_and_Country.html

This topic was raised in the previous incarnation of this forum by Steve.

The cabinet has been touring the country and has now reached The National Portrait Gallery in London. I did first see the stamps some years ago, probably at The Imperial War Museum, but decided to see them again, more sheets were added this year. It is a very moving experience as you pull out each frame to view the stamps, their rank, name, regiment and date they died is shown in the margin. The portraits of the soldiers varies from formal military to casual photographs chosen in collaboration with  the families.

Steve McQueen has been trying to get these issued officially by the Royal Mail but without success. You can add your name in support either at the NPG exhibition or at the website above.

A book has just been published by The Arts Council at £25, £22 at the NPG.

Edited by Daniel - 02 April 2010 at 03:07