Tracey Emin’s first exhibition in her home town Margate will open at Turner Contemporary on 26 May 2012
She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea: Tracey Emin at Turner Contemporary is conceived specially for Margate, where Tracey Emin grew up and which has provided inspiration for many of her most famous art works.
Tracey Emin said: ‘I still can’t really believe that I’m showing in Margate. Even in my wildest dreams I could never believe there would be a gallery like Turner Contemporary there. So on one level I’m really chuffed and excited but on another I am as nervous as hell. The brilliant thing about Margate is it’s one hour from London on the train so I’m hoping lots of people will come and visit not just my show but the beautiful sunsets and sandy teaches.’
The exhibition will explore the themes of love, sex and romanticism in Emin’s oeuvre. It will feature new works, including drawings, monoprints, sculptures, tapestries, embroideries and neons, and will be installed throughout Turner Contemporary’s suite of first-floor galleries.
The exhibition’s central themes are continued in a group of sketches and paintings of erotic subjects by Tracey Emin, JMW Turner and Auguste Rodin, whose iconic sculpture The Kiss is on show in the Sunley Gallery at Turner Contemporary. This section of the exhibition considers the artists in terms of their shared fascination with female sexuality and the varying means by which they explore the subject.
Victoria Pomery, Director, Turner Contemporary said: ‘We are thrilled to be working with Tracey on this exhibition of new work, which considers her extensive oeuvre in a new light.’
Photo © ArtLyst Ltd 2012
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