Steve McQueen Year 3

An image of one billboard containing a class photo of year 3 children. There is a red letterbox next to the billboard.

Discover one of the most ambitious visual portraits of citizenship ever undertaken, in one of the world’s largest and most diverse cities. 

Steve McQueen’s epic Year 3 project can be seen on over 600 billboards across all 33 of London’s boroughs. 

The billboards feature huge class photos of year 3 school children from London primary schools. Year 3 is considered a milestone year in a child’s development and sense of identity. It’s when children aged 7–8 years old become more conscious of a much bigger world beyond their immediate family. 

This portrait of London captures that moment of excitement, anticipation and hope. It’s a celebration of the young people who will make London their own, and a meditation on the personal circumstances and social forces that shape all our lives.

The billboards can be spotted on the side of the road, on railway platforms, and at London Underground stations for most of November 2019. To find out where they are located, you can explore our map below.

All the school photos will be presented together in a large-scale installation at Tate Britain on show from 12 November 2019 – 3 May 2020.

Image: Steve McQueen Year 3. A partnership between Tate, Artangel and A New Direction © Steve McQueen & Tate. Courtesy of Artangel. Billboard location: Camden Road, London Borough of Camden. Billboard photographed in situ by Theo Christelis

Where the billboards were located

You can also explore these locations on Google Maps.

The billboards by the side of the road and at railway stations were put up between 4 and 8 November 2019 and taken down between 18 and 22 November. The billboards at London Underground stations were all be up by 7 November and were taken down between 13 and 21 November.

Behind the scenes: watch the billboards going up

Video: Artangel installing Steve McQueen Year 3 billboards in Kennington. Photography: Theo Christelis. This video is also available to view on YouTube and Vimeo alongside another time-lapse video of the billboard being installed in Camden (YouTube and Vimeo).

About Artangel

Artangel has always gone where others fear to tread. We collaborate with artists who defy boundaries to give form to extraordinary ideas.

The art we produce boldly responds to the environment in which we live. It’s often unlike anything you have experienced before. We've taken over an empty prison, uncovered an underground opera house, made sculpture from solid air, commissioned a mile-high column of light, and a thousand-year-long piece of music.

We celebrate the artists of today and identify those of tomorrow. Developing daring new works that reveal a different side to the world we live in.

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Credits

Steve McQueen Year 3 is a partnership between Tate, Artangel and A New Direction. Supported by Joseph and Abigail Baratta, De Ying Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies, with additional support from Dana and Albert R. Broccoli Charitable Foundation, The Garcia Family Foundation, Wagner Foundation and Tate Americas Foundation. With media partner BBC London and film education charity partner Into Film.

Artangel is generously supported using public funding by Arts Council England, and by the private patronage of The Artangel International Circle, Special Angels, Guardian Angels and The Company of Angels.

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