The major retrospective of work by Tracey Emin, Love is What You Want, is currently on at London’s Hayward Gallery at Southbank Centre. AM attended the preview on Tuesday evening and was duly impressed. If you’re fond of Emin’s intensely personal, confessional and often provocative art, you’ll love this show. There’s certainly a great deal to take in, covering every phase of her career and the wide diversity of media she’s worked with: installation, embroidered and appliquéd blankets, neon, film, animation, photography, sculpture, painting, drawing and assemblage.
The survey, which runs until 29 August, covers five rooms in the lower and upper galleries of the Hayward as well as terrace areas. Although we just took a few quick snapshots, the show requires about three or four hours to view properly. Highlights for AM were Emin’s blankets, neon work and short films — in particular, the harrowing How It Feels and her far more uplifting (at least at the end) Why I Never Became a Dancer. Note also that tours (free to exhibition ticket holders) are given each Wednesday at 1 pm and each Thursday at 6.30 pm.
See more images after the jump.
Text and photographs by Patrick Nguyen.
Discuss Tracey Emin here.
