Controversial artist’s latest exhibition features an eclectic mix of drawings, sculptures, monoprints and neons on themes including love, sex and eroticism
Controversial artist Tracey Emin has launched a major exhibition in her home town which provided the inspiration for many of herfamous artworks.
The showcase at the Turner Contemporary in Margate, Kent, England, features an eclectic range of drawings, sculptures, tap estries, embroideries, monoprints and neons on themes including love, sex and eroticism.
Ms Emin, 48, admitted she was “nervous as hell” about how the exhibition − called She Lay Down Beneath The Sea − will be received by locals in the resort she adores.
To drum up interest, she said she wrote to every resident in Margate to ask them to view the show, which runs at Turner Contemporary until September 23.
She said: “I’m really nervous as I want people to like my work and like my show.”
Asked whether she felt more relaxed as an artist now, she said: “It’s not about being relaxed but it’s more about being at ease with myself and what I can do. I feel like I’m growing into my work more, I’m enjoying it and understanding it.
“I’m nearly 50 and I’m making things that I really want to see, so that’s a sign of maturity.”
The new exhibition is part of the London 2012 Festival, a 12-week nationwide celebration running from June 21 to September 9, bringing together leading artists from across the globe with the best from the UK.
And for Emin, her pieces will be pitted against the erotic works of JMW Turner and Auguste Rodin, whose famous sculpture The Kiss is on show at Turner Contemporary’s Sunley Gallery.
Ruth Mackenzie, director of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, said: “We want this to be a summer of unforgettable art as well as sport.”
Ms Emin, who lives in east London, has been a controversial figure throughout her career. In 1999, she was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and exhibited My Bed, her own unmade bed complete with used condoms and blood-stained underwear at the Tate Gallery.
Victoria Pomery, director at Turner Contemporary, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Tracey on this exhibition of new work, which considers Tracey’s extensive oeuvre in a new light.”
Ms Emin will also be taking her place in the Olympic history books by running as a torchbearer through Margate on July 19.
She will pause briefly outside Turner Contemporary before the torch is rowed along the River Medway in Maidstone, past Brands Hatch, the venue of the Paralympic Road Cycling competitions in September.
Clive Hart, leader of Thanet District Council, said: “I am extremely pleased that the Turner Contemporary Gallery, one of Thanet’s greatest attributes, will be featured on the Torch Relay route.