Steve McQueen's 'Ashes' and 'Broken Column' at Thomas Dane Gallery explore violence and memory

Steve McQueen's 2014 work 'Ashes' presents Super 8 footage shot by cinematographer Thomas Müller, originally filmed in 2002 but unused in McQueen's earlier piece 'Carib's Leap'. The film shows a young Grenadian man named Ashes on a boat, smiling and playful against Caribbean scenery. McQueen returned to Grenada years later to find Ashes had been killed after stealing drugs from dealers, a story told through interviews on the soundtrack. The film contrasts intimate visuals with a tragic narrative about violence against Black men. At Thomas Dane Gallery's second location nearby, McQueen exhibited 'Broken Column' (2014), two polished Zimbabwean granite columns roughly broken at the top, symbolizing a life cut short. One column sits in a Perspex case with powdered rock on its surface, while a larger version rests on a wooden pallet. McQueen's statement about not letting 'the dust of the past to settle' introduces these politically charged works, which reference victims like Trayvon Martin, Mark Duggan, and Michael Brown while addressing broader systemic violence. The exhibition opened in December 2014.