Tracey Emin: Love is What You Want

Posted by Fabio 16 May 2011

This summer the Hayward Gallery presents TRACEY EMIN: LOVE IS WHAT YOU WANT, the first major survey in London of the work of one of the UK’s most renowned and celebrated artists. Occupying both floors and two outdoor sculpture terraces, the exhibition features key works from all periods of the artist’s career including seldom-seen early works and more recent large-scale installations as well as a new series of outdoor sculptures created especially for the Hayward. The exhibition is a highlight of Southbank Centre’s celebration of the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Festival of Britain with MasterCard.

Ralph Rugoff, Director, Hayward Gallery said:
“Tracey Emin is one of the most celebrated and talked about artists of her generation, and this exhibition – her first major survey in a public gallery in London – will be both an artistic home-coming and a new look at the full range of her achievement.”
The Hayward exhibition features key works from all periods of her career and in all media, including painting, textiles, works on paper, photography, neon, film and sculpture. Works are arranged either thematically or juxtaposed to invite new readings of them.

Highlights include a concentrated presentation of the most famous appliqué blankets such as Hotel International (1993) and Psyco Slut (1999), a darkened room showcasing over a dozen neon works alongside videos, and a large room of recent works in a lighter palette that tend toward abstraction. The installation comprising Menphis (2003), an exhibition originally staged at the Carl Freedman Gallery, London will be recreated and a suite of more contemporary paintings also feature. Rarely seen sculptural works are presented including Emin’s Army (1999), Tacimin – Can you hear me? (1997), an exploration of the afterlife through a Ouija board, and Salem (2005), a five metre high tower of reclaimed wood with a white neon running down its length. For the Hayward Gallery exhibition, Emin is planning a new series of outdoor sculptures, offering a surprising and new direction to her work. Additionally, the artist will present a new photographic work and neon signs for the first time in the exhibition.

All photos David Levene
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TRACEY EMIN: LOVE IS WHAT YOU WANT
18 May – 29 August 2011
Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre