Clockwise from top:Sorry Flowers Die (1999)I Never Stopped Loving You (2◊1◊)Blinding (2◊◊◊)Images courtesy of the artist and White Cube Gallery

Visitor Information:I Never Stopped Loving You neon on the exteriorof Droit House will be lit 1◊am – 11pm dailyfrom 1 May 2◊1◊

An associated exhibition in Droit House willbe open 1 May – 2◊ June 2◊1◊, Wednesday – Sunday(plus Bank Holiday Mondays), 1◊am – 5pm.Admission is free. Droit House, Stone Pier, Margatewww.turnercontemporary.org

Please be advised that the exhibition containslanguage that some people may find offensive.

TurnerContemporary

A new neon for Droit House, Margate

I Never Stopped Loving You is a bittersweet homage to Margateby Tracey Emin, one of its most successful and outspokenformer residents, an artist best known for brash but tenderportrayals of her own troubled life – the most notoriousexample being the dishevelled bedroom installation sheexhibited in the 1999 Turner Prize. Although not umbilicallylinked to the place (she was born in London in 1963 to anEnglish mother and Turkish Cypriot father), Emin has sincebecome synonymous with Margate, creating an image of herhometown from the very material that would have beenprevalent on its Golden Mile in her teenage years – thebright lights and fizzing colours of neon. By bringing backsome of the glamour and vibrancy that she associates withthe coastal resort of her memory, Emin wants everyone toreconsider Margate, quite literally, anew, in this glowingpink light, just as the whole place might one day soon bebathed in a new era of prosperity and regeneration.

On immediate reflection, the handwritten neon phrase refersto the simple fact that Emin left her Kent upbringing inorder to take advantage of the much brighter lights and thebig city of London, which is, of course, where she’s madeher name and fame since – becoming this country’s foremostfemale artist and a member of the Royal Academy, as well asrepresenting the UK at the prestigious Venice Biennale andthrough her works and exhibitions in major museums all over

Turner Contemporary

Tracey Emin

I Never Stopped Loving You

childhood home whatsoever, given that she describes how heryouth was horribly misspent at the arcades or in nightclubsof ill-repute, only to be punctuated by humiliation, casualviolence and rape, all by the young age of 13.

Yet, also in the book, she describes her joyful return toMargate aged 15, after she first rashly ran away to London:‘I felt tired, lonely, cold, and wanted to feel safe. I justwanted to go home, to my mum. So I went back to Margate:back to where the sun shone.’ A few pages later, however,she leaves again, this time for good. Emin’s art also refersto Margate in this haphazard, ever changeable manner. Itprovides the seedy backdrop to an angst-ridden video WhyI Never Became a Dancer (1995) in which she catalogues hermany teenage regrets and denounces her often much oldermale suitors. Conversely, Emin’s affection for Margate’spicturesque beach huts is clearly visible in an idyllicwooden shack surrounded by plants that she constructed fora gallery in 2◊◊1, called The Perfect Place to Grow. Sheeven made a feature-length film, titled Top Spot (2◊◊4)about her experiences in Margate.

Clearly, then, Emin never stopped loving the place. Shemay have felt guilty as she watched from afar as her belovedlido, big wheel and pier fell into disrepair or came crashingdown, but now she’s obviously happy that her harbour sideDreamland may yet get a new lease of life. She’s proudto support Margate, just as Turner Contemporary hopesto contribute culturally to its regeneration. Up on thekitchen wall in the Emin family’s 7◊-room guesthouse,Hotel International, was a plaque with a seagull and bluesky that read: ‘If you love something set it free. If itcomes back it’s yours.’ Tracey has set Margate free – freefrom her anger and feelings of dread – now let’s see ifMargate welcomes her back just as fondly.

Ossian Ward

Ossian Ward is a writer and Visual Arts Editor, Time Out London.I Never Stopped Loving You is commissioned by Turner Contemporary with the supportof Thanet District Council.

the world. Then again, on second reading, the line I NeverStopped Loving You becomes defiant, an admission that shemight well have fallen out of love with Margate long ago,were it not for her own willpower. Soon the words are riddledwith ambiguities, perhaps implying that she often entertainedthe thought of dumping her loyalties somewhere along theway or that this is a begrudging reconciliation after yearsof animosity. Arguably, Emin’s personal relationships –particularly when it comes to her parents and her boyfriendsor lovers – have been characterised by a similarly hard-to-read love/hate, hot/cold conflict. Her lifelong affair withMargate is no different and no less complex.

Many of Emin’s previous text pieces in neon have alsoseemed straightforward at first, but can be just as trickyto decipher, offering up everything from the disingenuousapology of Sorry Flowers Die (1999), to the harsh words ofPeople Like You Need to Fuck People Like Me (2◊◊2) and theoutright lie of Trust Me (2◊◊◊). The first neon she madewas to entice people into her eponymous Tracey Emin Museum(a shop she opened in Waterloo in 1995), so clearly it harksback to the signage of the harbour side attractions that shegrew up around in Margate, although she’s gone as far as tosuggest that she finds the medium ‘sexy’, despite most of itsprevious use in art having been rather macho or minimalist.Since then, she’s made ever more elaborate, coloured worksin neon, creating whole written verses, as in Love Poemfor CF (2◊◊7), or elaborate drawings in light, as in thenaked figure of Blinding (2◊◊◊). Indeed, neon has becomea signature material for Emin alongside the needlework andappliqué techniques, as well as the painting, video andsculpture that often includes personal objects or diaries.

Emin recently found another outlet for her tell-all,confessional style of expressing herself, in a book ofcollected writings and memoirs to-date, called Strangelandin honour of Margate’s pre-eminent, but now faded seasideattraction Dreamland, where she worked as a waitress. Anyonewho has read Emin’s 2◊◊5 book might be surprised to findout that she has any positive feelings left towards her

childhood home whatsoever, given that she describes how heryouth was horribly misspent at the arcades or in nightclubsof ill-repute, only to be punctuated by humiliation, casualviolence and rape, all by the young age of 13.

Yet, also in the book, she describes her joyful return toMargate aged 15, after she first rashly ran away to London:‘I felt tired, lonely, cold, and wanted to feel safe. I justwanted to go home, to my mum. So I went back to Margate:back to where the sun shone.’ A few pages later, however,she leaves again, this time for good. Emin’s art also refersto Margate in this haphazard, ever changeable manner. Itprovides the seedy backdrop to an angst-ridden video WhyI Never Became a Dancer (1995) in which she catalogues hermany teenage regrets and denounces her often much oldermale suitors. Conversely, Emin’s affection for Margate’spicturesque beach huts is clearly visible in an idyllicwooden shack surrounded by plants that she constructed fora gallery in 2◊◊1, called The Perfect Place to Grow. Sheeven made a feature-length film, titled Top Spot (2◊◊4)about her experiences in Margate.

Clearly, then, Emin never stopped loving the place. Shemay have felt guilty as she watched from afar as her belovedlido, big wheel and pier fell into disrepair or came crashingdown, but now she’s obviously happy that her harbour sideDreamland may yet get a new lease of life. She’s proudto support Margate, just as Turner Contemporary hopesto contribute culturally to its regeneration. Up on thekitchen wall in the Emin family’s 7◊-room guesthouse,Hotel International, was a plaque with a seagull and bluesky that read: ‘If you love something set it free. If itcomes back it’s yours.’ Tracey has set Margate free – freefrom her anger and feelings of dread – now let’s see ifMargate welcomes her back just as fondly.

Ossian Ward

Ossian Ward is a writer and Visual Arts Editor, Time Out London.I Never Stopped Loving You is commissioned by Turner Contemporary with the supportof Thanet District Council.

the world. Then again, on second reading, the line I NeverStopped Loving You becomes defiant, an admission that shemight well have fallen out of love with Margate long ago,were it not for her own willpower. Soon the words are riddledwith ambiguities, perhaps implying that she often entertainedthe thought of dumping her loyalties somewhere along theway or that this is a begrudging reconciliation after yearsof animosity. Arguably, Emin’s personal relationships –particularly when it comes to her parents and her boyfriendsor lovers – have been characterised by a similarly hard-to-read love/hate, hot/cold conflict. Her lifelong affair withMargate is no different and no less complex.

Many of Emin’s previous text pieces in neon have alsoseemed straightforward at first, but can be just as trickyto decipher, offering up everything from the disingenuousapology of Sorry Flowers Die (1999), to the harsh words ofPeople Like You Need to Fuck People Like Me (2◊◊2) and theoutright lie of Trust Me (2◊◊◊). The first neon she madewas to entice people into her eponymous Tracey Emin Museum(a shop she opened in Waterloo in 1995), so clearly it harksback to the signage of the harbour side attractions that shegrew up around in Margate, although she’s gone as far as tosuggest that she finds the medium ‘sexy’, despite most of itsprevious use in art having been rather macho or minimalist.Since then, she’s made ever more elaborate, coloured worksin neon, creating whole written verses, as in Love Poemfor CF (2◊◊7), or elaborate drawings in light, as in thenaked figure of Blinding (2◊◊◊). Indeed, neon has becomea signature material for Emin alongside the needlework andappliqué techniques, as well as the painting, video andsculpture that often includes personal objects or diaries.

Emin recently found another outlet for her tell-all,confessional style of expressing herself, in a book ofcollected writings and memoirs to-date, called Strangelandin honour of Margate’s pre-eminent, but now faded seasideattraction Dreamland, where she worked as a waitress. Anyonewho has read Emin’s 2◊◊5 book might be surprised to findout that she has any positive feelings left towards her

Clockwise from top:Sorry Flowers Die (1999)I Never Stopped Loving You (2◊1◊)Blinding (2◊◊◊)Images courtesy of the artist and White Cube Gallery

Visitor Information:I Never Stopped Loving You neon on the exteriorof Droit House will be lit 1◊am – 11pm dailyfrom 1 May 2◊1◊

An associated exhibition in Droit House willbe open 1 May – 2◊ June 2◊1◊, Wednesday – Sunday(plus Bank Holiday Mondays), 1◊am – 5pm.Admission is free. Droit House, Stone Pier, Margatewww.turnercontemporary.org

Please be advised that the exhibition containslanguage that some people may find offensive.

TurnerContemporary

A new neon for Droit House, Margate

I Never Stopped Loving You is a bittersweet homage to Margateby Tracey Emin, one of its most successful and outspokenformer residents, an artist best known for brash but tenderportrayals of her own troubled life – the most notoriousexample being the dishevelled bedroom installation sheexhibited in the 1999 Turner Prize. Although not umbilicallylinked to the place (she was born in London in 1963 to anEnglish mother and Turkish Cypriot father), Emin has sincebecome synonymous with Margate, creating an image of herhometown from the very material that would have beenprevalent on its Golden Mile in her teenage years – thebright lights and fizzing colours of neon. By bringing backsome of the glamour and vibrancy that she associates withthe coastal resort of her memory, Emin wants everyone toreconsider Margate, quite literally, anew, in this glowingpink light, just as the whole place might one day soon bebathed in a new era of prosperity and regeneration.

On immediate reflection, the handwritten neon phrase refersto the simple fact that Emin left her Kent upbringing inorder to take advantage of the much brighter lights and thebig city of London, which is, of course, where she’s madeher name and fame since – becoming this country’s foremostfemale artist and a member of the Royal Academy, as well asrepresenting the UK at the prestigious Venice Biennale andthrough her works and exhibitions in major museums all over

Turner Contemporary

Tracey Emin

I Never Stopped Loving You