No one could ever accuse Tracey Emin of resting on her laurels. Hot on the heels of unveiling new work at Lehmann Maupin in Hong Kong, the artist has followed that effort up with ‘Stone Love’ at the gallery’s New York space – a presentation of more new paintings, works on paper and neons, along with captivating embroidered works and a series of provocative bronze sculptures. The exhibtion is confirmed as her last before a year’s break.
Although a range of different media is on display, Emin’s subject matter is very much a continuation of her personal narratives and self-reflection. Large embroidered pieces depict the human figure (hers) in various states of repose. The figures presented are less idealised and more astutely represented, revealing a rounder form and even rolls of flesh depicted in a flurry of black threads on calico.
‘I’ve always been a figurative artist,’ she explains. ‘In the 1990s, I used the figure but with words. It’s like I just took the figure out of everything. Like the bed for example – it’s really figurative, except that the figure has got up and walked out of the bed. I was always drawing but the drawings were like a diary at the time.’
Small-scale bronze works, which are intentionally abstracted and primitively formed, are treated as three-dimensional iterations of her drawings, which are also present in different scales around the gallery. ‘I just want to be more hands on with everything. I want to be in control,’ Emin reiterates. ‘I want it to be me, so even if I make mistakes, they’re my mistakes. When I die, I want people to know that "she touched that". That’s really important to me.’
The title of the show riffs on David Bowie’s song Soul Love and explores the different notions of love, which Emin had considered well before Bowie’s death. ‘[It] is about love and the reflection of love; the desire to melt into the image of someone else, the fantasy of love,’ she says. ‘I’d rather keep that love sustained. For example, being in love with a stone is fine. It’s beautiful, it’s monumental, it’s dignified. It will never ever let me down. It’s a metaphor for what I prefer to live with.’
As for her much discussed sabbatical, Emin responds to the sceptics, ‘The reason why I’m having a year off is not to stop making art, it’s so I can make art. It’s all the other things that interfere with my process and what I want to do. I want to wake up everyday, think about art and make art. I don’t want to have an opening or do an interview, or any charity work, or sign off on anything. I just want to make the work.’
The presentation includes new paintings, works on paper and neons, along with embroidered works and a series of provocative bronze sculptures
Large embroidered pieces depict the human figure in various states of repose
Small-scale bronze works, which are intentionally abstracted and primitively formed, are treated as three-dimensional iterations of her drawings, which are also present in different scales around the gallery
‘I’ve always been a figurative artist,’ Emin explains. ‘In the 1990s, I used the figure, but [in the form of] words. It’s like I just took the figure out of everything.' Pictured: Untitled (TBC), 2016
The title of the show riffs on David Bowie’s song ‘Soul Love’ and explores the different notions of love, which Emin had considered well before Bowie’s death. ‘[It] is about love and the reflection of love; the desire to melt into the image of someone else, the fantasy of love,’ she says
INFORMATION
'Stone Love' is on view until 18 June. For more details, visit Lehmann Maupin's website
Photography: EPW Studio/Maris Hutchinson. Courtesy Lehmann Maupin
ADDRESS
Lehmann Maupin
536 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011
-
Audi launches AUDI, a China-only sub-brand, with a handsome new EV conceptThe AUDI E previews a new range of China-specific electric vehicles from the German carmaker’s new local sub-brand
-
Inside Izza Marrakech: A new riad where art and bohemian luxury meetHonouring the late Bill Willis’ hedonistic style, Izza Marrakech fuses traditional Moroccan craftsmanship with the best of contemporary art
-
Clocking on: the bedside analogue timepieces that won’t alarm your aestheticWe track down the only tick-tocks that matter, nine traditional alarm clocks that tell the time with minimum fuss and maximum visual impact
-
Henni Alftan’s paintings frame everyday moments in cinematic renditionsConcurrent exhibitions in New York and Shanghai celebrate the mesmerising mystery in Henni Alftan’s paintings
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s ParkTwenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
-
Brutalism in film: the beautiful house that forms the backdrop to The Room Next DoorThe Room Next Door's production designer discusses mood-boarding and scene-setting for a moving film about friendship, fragility and the final curtain
-
‘This blood that is flowing is my blood, and that should be a positive thing’: Tracey Emin at White CubeTracey Emin’s exhibition ‘I followed you to the end’ has opened at White Cube Bermondsey in London, and traces the artist’s journey through loss
-
'There’s an anxiety under all of it': Violet Dennison in New YorkViolet Dennison debuts abstract paintings with new show 'Damaged Self' at Tara Downs Gallery
-
‘Gas Tank City’, a new monograph by Andrew Holmes, is a photorealist eye on the American West‘Gas Tank City’ chronicles the artist’s journey across truck-stop America, creating meticulous drawings of fleeting moments
-
Mark Armijo McKnight’s bodily landscapes capture the tactile serenity of the American WestThe artist’s new exhibition at the Whitney Museum, which is organised by the museum curator Drew Sawyer, offers a succinct window into his contemplative suggestion of queering a landscape
