Tracey Emin – Love or Loathe?
Tracey Emin is known for her deeply personal works of art and how honest her work is. Her personality is thrust into all her work and she has been praised and criticised for this. When I look at her work I have mixed emotions. On one hand I like her brash confidence, her sense of retaliation against the art world. Art is a form of expression and therefore should be personal to the artist but subjective to the viewer. If someone has a problem or interprets it in the wrong way who cares? Art is supposed to catch your eye, question you and create a feeling deep inside you – a stir. Emin certainly does this. On the other hand her work can be too personal, almost unnecessary and it is this controversy that I will be discussing briefly before reviewing her new exhibition at Selfridges, Oxford Street. ![]()
I once went to an exhibition of hers and found it vulgar. Images such as the indentations of Emin’s own urine in the snow came as a shock to my young eyes as I could not believe someone would think to do this as an adult and as a female. There was one piece of work that was of a cervical smear from Emin herself. I found this to be somewhat over the top. Once I realised what it was I found myself turning my nose up at it. Most of her work I found myself thinking why? Why would you let your life be so exposed and open for judgement?
As I go through her work I see it is definitely a statement, a way to stand out from the crowd. She wanted to get her name known and her way of portraying herself in her art has got her noticed and her work is very recognisable. Art is getting more and more expressive and shocking as we enter the 21st Century.
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This particular piece of art is a definite form of shock art. Emin unleashes a list of all the people, male and female, she has ever slept with. Most people would find this deeply personal and especially women tend to not reveal how many people they have been with. Although the trend for women being less open about their sexual history is becoming less so these days and that is mainly due to the change in the common woman. It is normal now for women to discuss sex and partners with friends and it is seen as a common thing to do, not something to be ashamed of. On one hand this could be regarded as women empowerment but on the other is can be seen as crude and un-ladylike behaviour. The opinion on this matter depends on the subjective view of the reader, are you more prudish than crude? If so the way Emin portrays her art is to not give a care in the world about what other people think. I believe some of her work is slightly inappropriate but the fact is, if you are exposing yourself to the world, why care about others opinion? You can never please everyone all of the time so you may as well do and say as you feel, right?
I do feel there is a time and a place for everything and you should express yourself freely, especially in the world of art. However if you expose everything personal about yourself all of the time then what is left for people to wonder? What is left as a mystery of this artist? Nothing. It is the same in life; you have to keep some things for people to wonder about, to question your reasons for doing something. It leaves something to the imagination and this is what I feel Emin lacks. What I love about Art is having my own opinion of what the artist was trying to portray at the time and never knowing what it truly meant to them. Art should be a journey ofself discovery of you as much as the Artist.
What I do like about Emin is the honesty in her work and the journey of her life portrayed through it. She is obviously a troubled artist and her work certainly shows that. Although there may be some works of art I feel can be a touch too much, I see her vision and I understand that she feels the need to show how she has developed as a person.
Emin @ Selfridges
Now what this whole review is about is the recent display of Emin’s ‘Love is What You Want’ at Selfridges. Emin has taken over The Concept Store on the ground floor of Selfridges, Oxford Street with four window displays from her exhibition as well as her ‘Walking Around My World’ store. The store has a selection of her favourite things including her own literature, prints and other items. I visited the store to see how Emin would fit in with a store as prestigious and well-known as Selfridges. I actually felt her minimalistic take on it worked very well. It wasn’t too cluttered and it made sense, you could tell it was Emin’s work while still being in line with the store itself. I particularly liked the newspaper prints on the wall inside the store which all featured Emin, her work and personal life.
I liked the fact that she chose certain items she felt were important to be in her store that were sold in Selfridges, particularly items that related to London considering it would attract a lot of tourists. I also thought her Cat display of her pet was an interesting idea. It was simple enough; with photos of her cat in photo frames displayed in the shape of a cat’s head with the outline on the window of a cat. The different levels from the glass on the window and the display inside the shop created a multidimensional effect.
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Emin’s displays were the right tone for the store but she still managed to keep her edge with the image of her running naked down a cobbled street with a British flag. It is subtle, not too exposing but just enough to draw the eye of a person passing by. I did not expect anything less. Her newspaper cuttings were the most interesting as it is amazing how much press one contemporary artist gets. It makes you realise how valuable privacy is and how Emin has sacrificed this for her Art, quite willingly of course.
Her work will always trigger some sort of opinion but I do like how she has put her stamp on Selfridges. Her prints are available to buy at Selfridge’s as well home wear with her prints on them, some being limited edition.
Please check out her shop and part of her exhibition at Selfridges which ends on the 31st July. It is a taster into her exhibition which is a personal journey through different mediums such as prints, photography or textiles. It is worth having a look whether you love or loathe her as all she is looking to be accepted for the work she does, for who she was and the person she has now become. She, honestly, has admitted she is looking for love to come from this exhibition.
