I'm Not Ready to Give Away My Grandmothers

WELCOME BACK TO SEASON 8 OF THE GREAT WOMEN ARTISTS PODCAST!! ...and what better way to kick it off with than an INTERVIEW with the world renowned artist, TRACEY EMIN! -- TW: This episode contains discussions around abortion and suicide. -- Tracey Emin's an oeuvre that encompasses painting textiles, sculpture, neons, film, installations and more, and is some of the most frank, personal, confessional, and visceral to ever exist. She speaks universal two truths on a personal level, drawing on love, desire, loss and grief. Whether it be her 18.2 tonne or nine metre high bronze, The Mother – as recently installed outside the Munch Museum in Oslo – or an intimate watercolour drawing, Emin’s works holds so much power. They are alive with energy and have the ability to send us to places that resonate, that make us feel, that are somehow incredibly familiar, but make us question so much. Just as she has said, “True art should resonate. It should make you feel it's not a picture. It's not a thing. It's not an object. It is a true thing that has energy. That's what makes it art.” Born in Croydon, and raised in Margate -- where the artist resides today and where she has just been named a free woman -- Emin studied at Maidstone Art College, followed by the Royal College of Art. It was in the 1990s that she came to the fore with a shop she ran with fellow artist, Sarah Lucas, in 1993. And her hugely significant biographical works, from Everyone I Have Ever Slept With (1963–1995) to My Bed, 1998, works that changed the course of art history and have been just as contemporary and relevant today and in the years to come. In 2007 She represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, and in 2008, she had her first major retrospective at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. In recent years, she has installed a poignant Nan in St. Pancras station, I Want My Time With You; taken painting to new heights with her incredibly strong and emotive works -- as recently exhibited at her joint exhibition with Edvard Munch at the Royal Academy of Arts -- and her current exhibition at Jupiter Artland in Scotland. Following a severe illness in 2020, she has, in her words, made her most “honest and complete” work to date, as witnessed in her incredible show earlier this year, a journey to death at Carl freeborn gallery in Margate, Tracey Emin, Tracey Early Works: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/nov/23/tracey-emin-unseen-paintings-bed-margate-first-time Tracey The Shop (1993): Interview and Hilton Als and others on The Shop: https://www.frieze.com/article/tracey-emin-and-sarah-lucas-shop Fun short video of them partying in the shop: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06pn6mh Last night of the Shop (1993): https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/emin-lucas-the-last-night-of-the-shop-3-7-93-t07605 Tracey on How it Feels (1996): https://whitecube.com/channel/channel/tracey_emin_on_how_it_feels/type/Tracey%20Emin My bed (1998): https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/emin-my-bed-l03662 Tracey at Venice 2007: https://www.theguardian.com/arts/gallery/2007/jun/07/emin I Want My Time With You (2018) https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/terrace-wires-tracey-emin The Mother in Norway (2022): https://www.munchmuseet.no/en/about/the-mother-at-inger-munchs-pier/ -- ENJOY!!! Follow us: Katy Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel Sound editing by Nada Smiljanic Artwork by @thisisaliceskinner Music by Ben Wetherfield https://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/ -- THIS EPISODE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY CHRISTIES: www.christies.com