Steve McQueen’s new artwork Sunshine State at IFFR 2023

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) presents Sunshine State, a Steve McQueen artwork commissioned by IFFR. The work will be presented in collaboration with Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen from January 26 to February 12 2023. Sunshine State is the latest artwork from the Oscar-winning filmmaker and Turner Prize-winning artist and is the first presentation to be hosted on the fifth floor of the Depot since it opened in November 2021.

Festival director Vanja Kaludjercic: “With great anticipation we look forward to finally presenting Steve McQueen’s latest artwork Sunshine State, after we commissioned it for our 50th edition. As both a visual artist and filmmaker, McQueen is an uncompromising creator who shares our vision for everything cinema can be. The spectacular Depot in Rotterdam is a fitting location for this monumental work which invites audiences for a moment of reflection.”

Steve McQueen, Sunshine State, 2022
© Steve McQueen. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery, Marian Goodman Gallery and Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan. Photo: Agostino Osio

Sunshine StateMcQueen’s first new artwork since his major commission Year 3 at Tate Britain in 2019, Sunshine State is a two-channel video projection shown on both sides of two screens placed one next to the other. Opening with footage of a burning sun, the work unfolds exploring images from the musical drama The Jazz Singer (1927), starring the famous singer Al Jolson. The film is known as the first “talkie” in the history of cinema that uses synchronised dialogue.Depot Boijmans Van BeuningenThe art collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is kept and cared for in its brand new depot. From the outside, this work building is a mirroring pot, from the inside a veritable machine room where art handling, registration, restoration, and conservation are the main activities. Visitors get a glimpse behind the scenes of the museum in this Rotterdam icon.

The largest exhibition space is found on the fifth floor of the Depot. Sunshine State is the first exhibition to be shown here since the opening of the building in November 2021, and is made possible by the support of Stichting Droom en Daad. The installation will open to the public on Thursday 26 January and run up to and including Sunday 12 February. IFFR 2023The 52nd edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam takes place from 25 January until 5 February 2023, with Sunshine State running until 12 February. The lineups for the Tiger, Big Screen and Ammodo Tiger Short competitions were announced at the IFFR 2023 Press Conference on 19 December. Sunshine State is part of IFFR’s Art Directions programme, the multi-disciplinary section that expands the realm of cinema to installations, exhibitions and live performances. The full Art Directions programme will be announced at the start of January.