Wednesday 6 June 2012

Exhibition: Tracey Emin

I went to the Tracey Emin exhibition 'She lay down deep beneath the sea' at the Turner Contemporary in Margate today.  This exhibition shows a large range of expressive and free drawings, mainly featuring the reclining female nude.  Most  of the drawings are in blue gouache, which somehow give the drawings a lighter touch and feel.  The truly amazing feature of the drawings are the way lines which trail off in space and do not complete the outline still define the form of the nude.  
The exhibition also has a number of translations of the drawings in embroidery.  Blue satin stitch of various widths on a calico background define the strength of the line in the original drawings.  In some of the embroideries four sheets of calico are joined with blue and red running stitch, giving the images a cross symbol which resemble a flag.  Also included in the exhibition are four tapestries including Rose Virgin, which was my favourite piece.  All four tapestries had a watercolour feel and the originals were painted using quite a muted palette.   
Erotic images by Turner and Rodin are also included in the exhibition and this made me realise how certain subjects in art continually revolve.  
I really enjoyed this exhibition - the seemly quick, sensual, expressive drawings and the realisation on how a direct translation of a drawing into another medium can add another dimension to the image.  The exhibition runs until 23 September and is well worth a visit, detail can be found on www.turnercontemporary.org

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