Tracey Emin - Contemporary Art Evening Sale London Wednesday, February 11, 2009 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York

  • Exhibited

    New York, Lehmann Maupin, I Think It's in My Head, 21 September - 19 October, 2002

  • Literature

    C. Lebowitz, 'Tracy Emin at Lehmann Maupin,' Art In America, May, 2003, p. 130 (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    To Meet My Past sees the rebirth and marrying of two primary styles of practice that brought artistTracey Emin into her prominence.This work evokes strong memories of both My Bed and Everyone I have Ever Slept With, in both material form and content.The audience is thrust into a realm where nothing is private nor reserved and any fear or vulnerability is hidden away deep under the sheets. Emin has used her undeniable ability to tap into the truth of her emotions and in doing so conducts an exploration into the universal human emotion. In To Meet My Past the bed resembles more of a personal shrine or a haven of passion.The debris of a suicidal mind is notably replaced with tapestry and embroidery of interracially constructed slogans and sewn words. Every available surface on this four-poster shrine is utilized and covered in a manner that borders obsession, creating in effect a place of rest that is not restful; a bed that encapsulates the thoughts, desires and fears of the person it keeps.
    Tracey Emin's embroidery works were primarily reserved for more politically engaged works, with few exceptions.This is a cannon that has been obliterated in the creation of To Meet My Past, a deeply personal work which includes the phrases such as ‘I AM NOT AFRAID' and ‘Why when I was a little girl, why did I not see the world like this, innocent.'This work has the ability to encapsulate its viewer with the curiosity of the mind that created it and evokes a fear of reality through the theatrics of its material. Emin has created a work that is complex in its irony.The viewer is exposed to intimacy and discomfort simultaneously.
     

5

To Meet My Past

2002
Mixed media installation comprised of a four poster bed, matress and appliquéd linens and curtains.
Approximate dimensions: 300 x 170 x 215 cm. (118 x 67 x 84 in).

Estimate
£200,000 - 300,000 

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

12 Feb 2009, 7pm
London