Tracey loves Margate -- true
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Tracey Emin’s love for her home town will be highly visible to
all when a bright pink neon sign is put up at the harbour.
The message I Never Stopped Loving You has been commissioned by
Turner Contemporary and will be fixed to the historic Droit House
at Margate harbour, a few yards from the emerging gallery
complex.
One of the most prominent and controversial artists of her
generation, Emin is known for her intensely personal artworks.
Born in London in 1963, she famously spent her childhood and
teenage years in Margate and her formative experiences in the
seaside town have provided the inspiration for much of her later
work.
Described as a love letter to her home town, the pink neon
sculpture will remain in situ from April 30 onwards and will also
mark the last year before Turner Contemporary is scheduled for
completion in 2011.
Talking about her new work for Margate, Emin said: “I came up
with the idea for this neon for Margate quite a few years ago. The
first time it was refused by the council. I was very hurt as I felt
that my neon was a show of love and affection for the place in
which I grew up.
“And now I’m very happy to see that Margate is welcoming back
neon. I feel that it’s a shame that the Golden Mile has lost its
lighted crowning glory. Margate needs neon to bring it back to its
former glory. Everyone who is associated with Margate, whether it’s
their past or their present, should never stop loving it. “This
neon is for everyone that knows that Margate is a truly beautiful
place.”
Emin has been working with neon since the late 1990s and her
text pieces in the medium, always written in her own unmistakable
hand, are among her most powerful and confessional works. These
pieces typically deal with love and sex and range from graphic,
uncompromising statements to more romantic expressions of
regret.
The neons also elegantly combine two crucial aspects of Emin’s
practice, namely her use of drawing and the written word, which
features in everything from her monoprints and paintings, to her
celebrated appliquéd blankets.
Emin said of the neon works: “I like neon, because it’s moving
constantly and I like drawing. The chemicals going through the neon
really turns me on. It’s sexy.”
Photo courtesy of Scott Douglas
Wednesday, March 03 2010
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