FEATURES
photographs, paintings, monoprints, drawings and written
memorabilia, the viewer is taken on a frank, explicit and graphic
‘The Perfect Place To Grow’
- yet strangely innocent and unashamedly personal - voyage
Right ‘Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made’
through the artist’s colourful life.
From entering the manicured and conservative grounds of
Tracey Emin:
the Scottish National Gallery you are sharply transported into
a rougher avenue of today’s world and come acutely face-
to-face with scenes of life’s taboos such as casual sex, rape
20 Years
and abortion.
Tracey’s childhood and teenage transitional periods clearly
words Zoë Keown form the root of her art and her youth’s hedonism, entwined
with stark streaks of honesty, are evident in the exhibition’s
W
hether we know her name more from her artwork
every corner.
or from her private life’s media coverage, the name
Tracey Emin has been one of the most talked about
Her raw and explicit childlike drawings of adult realities disturb
and anticipated events at this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival.
yet intrigue – innocent sketches strangely accompany tales of
abortion, and specific artefacts such as surgical gowns and the
Filling the ground floor of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern
smell of fresh paint cement a realness to the artist’s works while
Art, Emin’s first UK retrospective has been donated an amount neon and pastel appliqué blankets are far from comfortable
of space that is as bold and extravert as her personality. and seek to represent building blocks of Tracey’s life.
Emin’s artwork is famously synonymous with her personal Emin’s media coverage has always rested on her Turner Prize
history. During a set of eight exhibitions made up of film, nominated feature My Bed but this exhibition is about much
i-on_Edinburgh_34_Oct08.indd 26 26/9/08 13:12:15
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