±«Óãtv

Queen and Country will be on display at St George's Hall as part of the Biennial until October 31, 2008. The work consists of a large oak cabinet with vertical drawers containing a series of facsimile postage sheets. Each sheet is dedicated to a member of the armed forces who has lost their life. Until the stamps are officially issued by Royal Mail the artist considers Queen and Country to be incomplete.

Artist Steve McQueen was born in London in 1969. He won the Turner Prize in 1999 and was awarded an OBE in 2002. His first feature film Hunger won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year and he has been selected to represent Britain at the 53rd Venice Biennale.

Corporal Ben Nowak, Royal Marines.

One of the soldiers featured in the work is Corporal Ben Nowak, a Royal Marine from Speke in Liverpool. He died at age 27 in a bomb attack near Basra, Southern Iraq. Charity organisation The Art Fund is spearheading a campaign to gain public support for the project. Visitors to St George’s Hall will be invited to sign The Art Fund’s online petition asking Royal Mail to publish the stamps.

The ultimate sacrifice

Mr Michael McEvatt, Corporal Nowak’s uncle, is one of the 13,000 people who have so far signed the petition in support of the campaign. He says: “The issuing of his stamp would be an acknowledgement of the ultimate sacrifice that Ben gave for his country. Seeing Queen and Country in Ben’s home town will be a very moving experience for his friends and family.�

David Barrie, Director of The Art Fund, says: “We’re delighted that Queen and Country is on display as part of the Biennial. Steve McQueen has created a very simple but at the same time powerful work of art that forces us to think hard about war and its human cost.Ìý At a time when service men and women are risking their lives in Iraq – and elsewhere – it is particularly poignant. â€�

Queen and Country will be on display at St George's Hall as part of the Biennial until October 31, 2008.