'Love is what you want' features a span of older and more recent works by the artist Tracey Emin. Starting with her 'blankets' and large wooden structure 'knowing my enemy', the show includes her neon works, film, sculptures, drawings, objects, prints and other various memorabilia.
Admittedly I wasn't quite so sure what to expect from this show. Every move Emin makes is documented and thoroughly reported by the media for the public's perusal, making it unavoidable to gain some sort of subconscious and vague impressions of Emin as a woman and also her work as a famous artist.
For this reason I was some what doubtful as to whether I would personally connect with her work, whether the show would have any resounding impressions on me. (Despite my current interest in feminist art, my admiration for Louise Bourgeois and curiosity surrounding art based on the personal life of an artist.)
However I left the exhibition feeling inspired and with a new sense of loyalty, understanding and sympathy of Emins personal struggles, conveyed with brutal honesty through her work.
Perhaps part of the reason for this new found appreciation is the combination of the various works displayed. If I had only seen certain pieces individually I may not have been so impressed. The compulsive crudity of some pieces is softened by the ironic wit of others, the quiet despair of loneliness is thrown in to another light when compared to the humorous, rambling, heavily dyslexic letters written by the artists father.
It is hard to believe that one person can experience so much trauma, Emins life seems more like a soap opera. Yet, and I think this is what makes her work so successful in connecting with a wider audience, despite the universality of some of the raw emotions displayed, we can still sympathise with her experiences as a person, as a female in our contemporary society, on an intimate level. Some critics may argue that part of the reason Tracey Emin does enjoy success is because we sympathise with her, as opposed to appreciating her artistic skill; but surely in order for us to break through to this intimacy and understanding we have to look through her artwork to gain the emotion beyond it? Yes her life is thoroughly documented independently from her art work, but this would connect with few if it wasn't for her means of communication.
'Love is What You Want' rattles human emotion and, in my opinion, succeeds in intimately clarifying Tracey Emins personal experiences to those who wish to open their minds to her and her work.
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