Art History - Tracey Emin - Essay Example

Art History: Tracey Emin Insert Insert s 20 March 2001 Art History: Tracey Emin Introduction Tracey Emin was born in theyear 1963 in London. She studied fine art and printmaking at the Maidstone College of Art (Banks 2013) and later went to further her studies at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London. All these occurred after she left school at an early age. Despite her early school dropout, she managed to earn her master’s degree in painting at Royal College of Arts (Lane 2013). Today, she is based in London and she is also a member of Young British Artists, which she joined in the early 1990’s. Moreover, she graduated from Maidstone College of Arts in 1986 and Royal College of Arts awarded her her master’s degree in painting in the year 1989. Furthermore, she also studied philosophy in London and her artistic work My Bed presented at Tate Gallery made her to feature in Turner Prize list in 1999 (Lane 2013). This paper will discuss the works of Tracey Emin and their contribution to the growth of visual arts. This will also entail justifying that Tracey Emin is a good artist who deserves appreciation and a place in art history canon. Tracey Emin is a good artist who deserves a place in the art history canon. Tracey Emin is a good artist who deserves a place in the art history canon. This is very true because today, Tracey Emin is recognized as one of the best contemporary artists globally. This is due to her artistic use of blunt and revealing style, which usually elicits people’s emotions through self-reflections (Lane 2013). In addition, Emin is capable of showing very painful situations through of poetic humor and figurative honesty using several artistic methods such as painting, drawing, and sculpture and even through films. Besides, Emin has been involved in several solo artistic shows at various places such as Amsterdam, Munich, Modern Art Oxford, Istanbul, and Art Gallery of New south Wales among many others. In 2007, she represented Britain at the fifty-second Venice Biennial festivals where she emerged second female artist (Lane 2013). Similarly, in the same year, she was awarded an honorary doctorate degree and a doctor of philosophy at Royal College of Arts and London Metropolitan University respectively (Banks 2013). Her artistic works are usually sexually provocative and very open to the audience. Despite the fact that she belongs to British working class, her open attitude makes her artistic works looks maverick. Furthermore, Emin also has uncontrolled and unpredictable persona with ability to show a variety of exhibitions such as, sewing, neons, videos, super eight films, photographs, animations and installations (Tracey Emin sticks 2005). In that sense, she is very passionate about her artistic works and she does it with a lot of enthusiasm such that anybody who watches her videos just loves them. Despite some odds in her early life, she still manages to give good artistic works. For example, she dropped out of school at the age of thirteen years and also had a traumatic abortion in the year 1989. Nevertheless, her masterpiece, “The piece Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1965”, made her popular and very famous. This is because the piece spelt out everyone she had ever slept with including friends and family members. However, the piece was destroyed in London warehouse fire in the year 2004. She later managed to produce another art called My Bed (Banks 2013), which enabled her to feature in the Turner Prize list in 1999. My Bed mainly exhibited her own bed, which featured a number of objects and experiences of struggle through her problematic relationships, full of depression and anxiety. This work draws a lot of attention since it portrays body fluids in the bed sheets as well as condoms, slippers and empty bottles that covered her bed. In this sense, she is one of the artists that are very talented and deserves to be in the history of cannon. This is mainly because she reveals her own personal life through the use of humor and honesty, which gives all the viewers an emotional feeling (Angel without You 2013). Furthermore, her artistic works mainly talk about everyday painful life experiences, which women and girls sometimes face in life such as sex harassment, drug abuse, abortion, poor education, and poor home management among many others. Again, her artistic works show how she struggles in life to achieve her goals despite failures and frustrations that she also faces in life. She wrote a column in The Independent newspaper at around the year 2008 to 2009 about her unique life that portrays various universal emotions and life struggles that human beings face in everyday life but remain in denial about them (Lane 2013). Moreover, she has written many books such as Those Who Suffer Love, Monoprint Diaries and One Thousand Drawings, published in the year 2009. Again, her other books include, You Left Me Breathing, published in the year 2008. In addition, Trace Emin has also written books such as, Strangeland, Borrowed Light, I Can Feel Your Smile, and Exploration of The Soul, Six Turkish Tales and Jay Joplin Gallery among many other books. On the other hand, she has also produced and created several films such as Top Spot; Sometimes the Dress Is worth More Money than the Money and the CV Cunt Vernacular. Furthermore, she has also acted in many other films such as Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon. Besides, in 1999, her first solo exhibition was presented in United States and this is where she presented her installation, My Bed. In 1998, she was shortlisted for Turner Prize in Tate Gallery. Due to her excellent contributions in visual arts, she was appointed a commander of the most excellent order of the British Empire in the year 2013. In addition, Emin has also recently featured in many exhibitions globally such as the solo show in Argentina at the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires. Besides, in December 2013 she presented a solo museum exhibition of contemporary art in the United States. In 2008, she presented a solo called Tracey Emin: 20 Years at Edinburgh. At the same time, she presented other artist works in Malaga and Switzerland in the year 2008 and 2009 respectively (Murray 2012). Furthermore, her other artistic works have featured in many city museums globally, such as Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, Museum of Modern Arts in New York, British Museum in London, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture in Moscow, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin and Walker Art Center in Minneapolis among many other major cities worldwide (Banks 2013). Today, Tracey Emin is living and working in London. Therefore, due to extreme and excellent contributions of Tracey Emin, she is one of the best contemporary artists who deserve a place in the art history canon. Conclusion In conclusion, in this paper it is clear that Tracey Emin has contributed a lot in the artistic culture globally and her artistic works are appealing to many people and have featured in many museums and galleries worldwide. Her works have been influential in the growth of contemporary art due to their inspiring creativity and elegance. Therefore, due to her extreme and excellent contributions towards artistic culture and works, she is one of the competent artists globally who deserves appreciation and recognition. Reference List Angel without You 2013, Publishers Weekly, vol. 260, no. 41, p. 54, viewed 20 March 2014 http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8478-4115-8 Banks, T 2013, Sapient Nitro creates Art Rules social network for ICA, Design Week (Online Edition), viewed 20 March 2014 http://www.designweek.co.uk/news/sapient-nitro-creates-art-rules-social-network-for-ica/3036962.article Lane, MM 2013, Auctioneers Invade Gallery Turf, Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702303672404579147600955739302 Lane, M 2013, Neon Confidential, Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition, vol. 262, no. 128, p. D8, viewed 20 March 2014 http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304465604579220183542933654 Murray, Y 2012, Rape Trauma, the State, and the Art of Tracey Emin, California Law Review, vol. 100, no. 6, pp. 1631-1710, viewed 20 March 2014 http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=yxta_murray. Thayer, K 2013, Returning the Favor, Tracey Emin Auctions Original Neons to Benefit MOCA NOMI, Forbes.Com, p. 11, viewed 20 March 2014 http://www.forbes.com/sites/katherynthayer/2013/11/11/returning-the-favor-tracey-emin-auctions-original-neons-to-benefit-moca-nomi/ Tracey Emin sticks it to her new neighbor W&K 2005, Campaign (UK), vol. 33, p. 21, viewed 20 March 2014, via EBSCOHOST. Read More