Artist Tracey Emin Reflects on Sex, Love, and Loss in Landmark Italian Show

Tracey Emin, the former wild child of the contemporary British art scene, is the focus of a major new show in Italy, the first of its kind in the country.

A prominent member of the YBAs, aka Young British Artists, the renegade group that rose to international prominence in the 1990s, Emin is known for her absolute candor, for a confessional approach to her sexuality, and for conveying her inner emotional stakes. “Sex and Solitude” at the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy, is no exception. Despite the wide 30-year range of works on view, Emin emphasized in a video interview ahead of the show’s opening: “This show is not a survey show. . .I don’t like doing survey shows or retrospectives. I like to be living now.”

The exhibition represents a deep dive into her wide-ranging work, including paintings, drawings, film, photography, embroidery, appliqué, sculptures, and neon installations. It’s curated by the director general of the Palazzo, Arturo Galansino, who sought to explore the titular themes through some 60 works on display. In her embroidered quilt (2002), she talks about notions of motherhood and dying alone. Paintings convey pain and longing with sayings like “Hurt Heart” and “I waited so long.”

In an interview between Galasino and Emin included in the show catalogue, he noted: “Your work has always been unapologetically open about sexuality, from periods of intense sexual activity to years of celibacy, and the profound impact of sexual trauma. How has your perception of sex evolved over the years, and how does it continue to inform your work?”

In her typical honest manner, Emin replies: “Sex is very complicated for me, and it always has been. When I was younger, around fourteen or fifteen, sex was a vehicle, a way of getting somewhere, a way of moving, a way of exploring, a way of seeing the world through people, and feeling people. Then I realized that I was giving much more than I was receiving, and I wasn’t happy about it. At that time I went through a period of celibacy again. Throughout my life I’ve gone through long periods of celibacy and abstaining. The longest was around ten years. I think I might be going through another period of that now. This time it’s different because of all the surgery that I’ve had. My body is very affected by everything that has happened to it.” In 2020, Emin told Artnet News that she had been struggling with cancer. “I also think our body has memory,” continues Emin in the show text. “My body’s been hurt by love and by sex and by surgery and by rape and by sexually transmitted diseases and by abortions. It’s like that part of my body is quite numb now, because of psychological and physical reasons. Now what’s more important than sex to me is Love, definitely Love, it has to be Love. The chances of having both at the same time are pretty rare, especially for me.”

A number of the works in the exhibition are presented in Italy for the first time, along with new productions, in different media, specifically created for the show. For instance, Emin created the neon work, , shown on the facade of Palazzo Strozzi. Artworks being exhibited in Italy for the first time include: (2024), a large bronze sculpture shown in the courtyard. (1996), a melancholic canvas that has the words “Somethings I just can’t live with and somethings I can” scrawled on it, is also on view.

Galansino also asked Emin about her relationship to Italy and what it’s like to show at the historic Palazzo for the first time. Emin responded that she has shown her work quite a bit in Italy in the past, via her gallery, Lorcan O’Neill. “But I haven’t actually ever shown in an institutional space in Italy or had a solo show there. And Palazzo Strozzi is extremely beautiful, architecturally, historically, where it’s placed, the shape of the rooms, everything. It really suits me, it’s fantastic. And so, I’m excited about seeing my work in that environment and also excited in showing in an institutional space in Italy. And in Florence! It’s incredible! Steeped in so much art history, so much history. So, I’m also excited to be there. I have this thing, and I’ve had it for a long time: I won’t show in architectural spaces I don’t feel good about. My priority is showing in cities, towns, and countries that I feel good about. So, Palazzo Strozzi has everything for me I’m really excited.”

Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com