S3 EP4: Dame Tracey Emin discusses her upbringing, YBA contemporaries, and life-changing cancer diagnosis

The Louis Theroux Podcast

Spotify Studios

Comedy, Society & Culture, Arts

4.3 • 696 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2024

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Louis travels to the seaside town of Margate to meet iconic British artist, Dame Tracey Emin. During an afternoon spent in Tracey’s painting studio, the pair discuss her turbulent upbringing, what she thinks of her YBA contemporaries and how a cancer diagnosis changed her outlook on life. Warnings: Strong language, adult subject matter, including descriptions of sexual violence, and is intended for adult consumption only. Visit spotify.com/resources for information and resources. Links/Attachments: ‘Knighthoods and Damehoods’ - The Royal Family https://www.royal.uk/knighthoods-and-damehoods When Louis Met... - BBC (UK only) https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0dyhkbw/when-louis-met ‘Young British Artists (YBAs)’ - Tate https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/y/young-british-artists-ybas ‘Lads, Gak and Union Jacks: The Oral History of ‘Cool Britannia’' https://www.vice.com/en/article/lads-gak-and-union-jacks-the-oral-history-of-cool-britannia/ ‘Illumination Media: Is Painting Dead?’ (original broadcast 1997) - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKHJoLG2cEk&ab_channel=IlluminationsMedia ‘R.I.P. Tracey Emin’s Tent’ - BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3753541.stm ‘Tracey Emin: My Bed’ - Tate https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/emin-my-bed-l03662 ‘Francis Bacon’ – Tate https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/francis-bacon-682 ‘Carl Andre: the ‘OJ of the art world’ leaves behind a troubling legacy’ - The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/jan/25/carl-andre-artist-legacy ‘Death of an Artist’ - Podcast https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/death-of-an-artist ‘Satirists jump into Tracey's bed’ - The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/1999/oct/25/20yearsoftheturnerprize.turnerprize Book: Strangeland, Tracey Emin (2005) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strangeland-Tracey-Emin/dp/0340769467 Book: Six Turkish Tales, Tracey Emin (1987) https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Six_Turkish_Tales.html?id=vbGUAAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y Credits: Producer: Millie Chu  Assistant Producer: Emilia Gill Production Manager: Francesca Bassett  Music: Miguel D’Oliveira  Videography: Revelstoke Films Audio Mixer: Tom Guest Video Mixer: Scott Edwards Show notes compiled by Sally McLennan Executive Producer: Arron Fellows     A Mindhouse Production for Spotify  www.mindhouse.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	One-two, ready, mic number one.
0:07.4	Hello, Louis Theroux here, how are you?
0:10.0	Welcome to another episode of my podcast, the Louis Theroux podcast.
0:20.1	And for this episode, I sat down with the legendary British artist Dame Tracy Emin.
0:26.3	After a turbulent childhood, some of which we discussed in the chat, trigger warning, it is turbulent in the extreme.
0:33.4	She then went to art college and subsequently caught the attention of collector Charles Sarchi, who exhibited her work.
0:40.2	Among her key works are, everyone I have ever slept with, 1963 to 1995, aka the tent.
0:47.5	It's a tent with kind of embroidered names and information inside it.
0:53.2	That was exhibited in 1997. Another famous work is My Bed,
0:57.0	1998. That was a kind of rumpled real bed with sheets and detritus around it. It was Tracy's
1:06.8	real bed, so it was kind of making commentary on her life as well as on intimacy and life in
1:12.7	general. And she's made lots of other paintings and other forms of art. She's worked in numerous
1:17.5	media and is highly regarded, like extremely collectible and has worked at the very top of the
1:25.1	artistic profession for many years.
1:27.9	I'm somewhere between an art buff and not an art buff.
1:31.5	Like I go to galleries, but like a lot of people, from time to time I grapple with,
1:36.3	like what is it?
1:37.5	And what's the difference between, you know,
1:40.6	something that's actually interested in kind of challenging and a decontextualized, you know, something that's actually interested in kind of challenging
1:44.9	and a decontextualized, you know, ready-made piece of art
1:50.2	and what is just a bunch of crap, if I can put it that way.
1:53.9	Like, you know what I mean?
	...

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