The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), presents Steve McQueen: Drumroll, a selection of works by British artist and Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen.  On view at MOCA Pacific Design Center from June 28 through September 21, 2014, the exhibition takes as its centerpiece the artist’s 1998 video installation Drumroll, a 2004 partial and promised gift from MOCA life trustee Blake Byrne to MOCA’s permanent collection. Organized by MOCA Curator Bennett Simpson, the exhibition also includes a selection of works from Barrage (1998), McQueen’s series of fifty-six photographs of gutter barriers or “dams” found along the streets of Paris.

“Steve McQueen brought a language of the body and performance to the conversation about self-hood and subjectivity that was going on in the 1990s—a conversation that has not been finished, in part because of the innovative work he has continued to do.Drumroll is a portrait of an experience of the city, and its questions go to how and who we are,” said MOCA Curator Bennett Simpson.

McQueen was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize for Drumroll in 1999, an acknowledgment of the artist’s important work in video and performance in that decade. Drumroll is a three-channel video projection that forms a triptych image on one wall. To make the work, McQueen placed three video cameras inside of an oil drum, recording (through holes at either end and one in the center of the side) what the oil drum “experienced” while being rolled by the artist down 56^th, 57^th, and 58^th Streets in midtown Manhattan. The three synchronized projected images and accompanying sounds are the record of this journey, a whirl of sky and pavement, parked cars, and occasional glimpses of the artist, complemented by the rhythmic “beat” of the drum rolling over the asphalt. Although it is non-narrative, Drumroll nonetheless echoes any disorienting passage through the city—and through life in general—a meditation on movement, obstacle, displacement and negotiation. “It’s like since you’ve been born, you make a route, and everything is going by you, and along the way you grab what you can, make connections you can, and what you grab makes you,” explained McQueen.

Steve McQueen, Drumroll, 1998. Triptych, color video projection with sound, dimensions variable. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Partial and promised gift of Blake Byrne in honor of Jeremy Strick. Photo by Brian Forrest.

Since he completed his first film in 1993, Steve McQueen (b. 1969, London) has produced a remarkable body of projected films, video installations, and, more recently, feature-length films. Trained as a painter, McQueen studied at the Chelsea College of Art and Design (1989-90), Goldsmiths College, London (1990-93), and at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University (1993-94). In 2009 he represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale and has received numerous other awards and grants for his work as an artist and filmmaker. McQueen’s first feature film Hunger (2008) was awarded the Caméra d’Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and in 2011 he received the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film at the Venice International Film Festival for Shame (2011). He has exhibited internationally with a major career retrospective organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Schaulager Basel in 2012-2013. In 2014, the film 12 Years a Slave, directed by McQueen, won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Image: Steve McQueen, Drumroll, 1998. Triptych, color video projection with sound, dimensions variable. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Partial and promised gift of Blake Byrne in honor of Jeremy Strick. Photo by Brian Forrest.

 Founded in 1979, MOCA’s vision is to be the defining museum of contemporary art. In a relatively short period of time, MOCA has achieved astonishing growth with three Los Angeles locations of architectural renown; a world-class permanent collection of more than 6,800 objects international in scope and among the finest in the world; hallmark education programs that are widely emulated; award-winning publications that present original scholarship; groundbreaking monographic, touring, and thematic exhibitions of international repute that survey the art of our time; and cutting-edge engagement with modes of new media production. MOCA is a not-for-profit institution that relies on a variety of funding sources for its activities.

Director Steve McQueen holding his Academy Award

MOCA Grand Avenue (located at 250 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles) is open Monday and Friday from 11am to 5pm; Thursday from 11am to 8pm; Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 6pm; and closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.  The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (located at 152 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012) has the same hours as MOCA Grand Avenue during exhibitions. Please call ahead or go to moca.org for The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA exhibition schedule. MOCA Pacific Design Center, located at 8687 Melrose Avenue; West Hollywood, CA 90069, is open Tuesday through Friday from 11am to 5pm; Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 6pm; and closed on Monday.  The MOCA Store at 250 South Grand Avenue is open Monday through Wednesday and Friday from 10:30am to 530pm; Thursday from 10:30am to 8:30pm; and Saturday and Sunday from 10:30am to 6:30pm.

Museum Admission:  General admission is free for all MOCA members. General admission is also free for everyone at MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA on Thursdays from 5pm to 8pm, courtesy of Wells Fargo. General admission is always free at MOCA Pacific Design Center.  General admission at MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is $12 for adults; $7 for students with I.D. and seniors (65+); and free for children under 12.

For 24-hour information on current exhibitions, education programs, and special events, call 213 626 6222 or access MOCA online at moca.org