Tracey Emin Draws on Raw Emotional Power
“The Last Great Adventure is You” brings the artist home to the White Cube Gallery
by Maria Raposo
You either love her or you hate her. As polarizing as Tracey Emin’s work may be, it cannot be denied that she has helped change the landscape of contemporary British. Today the White Cube gallery opens one of the biggest shows of her career to the public, entitled “The Last Great Adventure is You”.
Famous for her storytelling, Tracey Emin knows how to engage the viewer with raw and honest explorations of her deepest emotions. Exposing personal details of her life, including rape, drug abuse and masturbation, through her works, Emin creates an intimate connection with the viewer that makes other artists appear aloof in comparison. She put herself on the map with controversial confessional works such as “My Bed”, which showed us her slept-in bed in all its embarrassing grandeur; covered with condom wrappers and underwear, tinged with body odor.
With such a big personality, Emin is known in some quarters as a bona fide celebrity and an outright diva, tipping the line of interest between fear and fascination.
In her current exhibition her distressed bronze female figures sit next to gangly fleshy painted female nudes and large neon works. The exhibition archives the contemplative nature of work by artist who has consistently examined her life with excoriating candour.
We look back at some of our favourite moments of the artist's career and works from her current exhibition.
Tracey Emin at “The Last Great Adventure is You”. Image courtesy of White Cube Gallery, Bermondsey
Tracey Emin, “The Last Great Adventure is You”, 2014. Image courtesy of White Cube Gallery, Bermondsey
Tracey Emin as Frida Kahlo, photographed by Mary McCartney, 2010
Tracey Emin "People Like You Need to Fuck People Like Me", 2007
Tracey Emin, "I do Not Expect To be a Mother" (Tapestry), 2002
Tracey Emin "My Photo Album", published in 2013, is a journey through the artist's life using photographs from her personal collection
Artist Tracey Emin reviews her hero David Bowie’s new album, "The Next Day", 2013.
Image taken from "My Photo Album", published in 2013. Tracey’s missing teeth are said to be caused by a calcium deficiency, exacerbated by an incident with her brother.
Tracey Emin "Good Red Love", 2014. Image courtesy of White Cube Gallery, Bermondsey
