Coinciding with Frieze London (2024), Tracey Emin’s solo exhibition, I Followed You to the End, is on display at White Cube Bermondsey from 19 September to 10 November 2024. Emin, a leading figure of the Young British Artists, continues her deeply autobiographical exploration of emotional anguish, vulnerability, and love, offering a body of work that is both intimate and universally relatable.
This exhibition spans all four gallery spaces, showcasing a range of new paintings and two bronze sculptures. Emin’s work, known for its raw and expressive style, bares the depths of her soul, pulling viewers into the complexities of her experiences with love, loss, and survival.
Tracey Emin 'I Followed You to the End' at White Cube Bermondsey. Photo taken from White Cube Installation Views.
A Turbulent Expression of Love and Loss
The exhibition’s title, I Followed You to the End, is a direct reflection of the emotional journey that defines Emin’s art. The title piece, a monumental bronze sculpture, depicts a figure’s lower anatomy emerging from the floor, a visual metaphor for the endurance of life’s struggles. Surrounding the sculpture are canvases dominated by shades of red, black, and blue, their figures bent, splayed, or curled in pain. These powerful images capture the raw intensity of love’s devastation and the unrelenting suffering that follows.
Emin’s paintings are known for their instinctive, often automatic creation process. The artist blends scrawled text with abstract forms, offering an honest reflection of her inner turmoil. Phrases like “You made me like this” and “Don’t ask me to die” appear on canvases, adding a textual dimension that deepens the emotional resonance of the images.
Mortality and Transformation
A recurring theme throughout the exhibition is the presence of mortality, a subject that has become increasingly prevalent in Emin’s work following her battle with cancer in 2020. Her near-death experiences are manifested in the visceral imagery of bleeding bodies, torn flesh, and figures teetering on the edge of life and death. The delicate boundary between these states is further explored in Take me to Heaven (2024), where a serene figure is jolted back to the present by a violent gush of red, symbolising the rupture of peace by the harsh realities of existence.
In this latest collection, Emin’s use of white paint, often layered over previously formed images, evokes a sense of veiling and unveiling. The ghostly impressions left behind echo the presence of those lost, such as her deceased mother, whose influence is subtly woven into the works.
Sculpture and Monumental Form
In addition to the paintings, Emin presents two new bronze sculptures. One of these, a colossal seven-metre piece, stands at the centre of the exhibition. Rough-hewn and primal, this abstracted female form commands attention. The headless, crouching figure embodies both vulnerability and defiance, encapsulating Emin’s ongoing exploration of the human body as a site of suffering and strength.
Tracey Emin 'I Followed You to the End' at White Cube Bermondsey. Photo taken from White Cube Installation Views.
A Continuation of Autobiographical Art
Emin’s work has always been deeply personal, with her life experiences serving as the foundation for much of her art. From her famous piece My Bed to this latest collection, she continues to draw from her own struggles, heartbreaks, and triumphs. The dishevelled beds and haunting figures in this exhibition are unmistakable signatures of Emin’s artistic voice, representing the physical and emotional turmoil that have shaped her life.
A Celebration of Survival
Despite the heavy themes of loss and mortality, there is a sense of survival threaded throughout I Followed You to the End. Emin’s works, though steeped in pain, are also filled with resilience. Her ability to confront and transform her suffering into art that resonates with audiences speaks to the power of creativity as a means of survival. The exhibition serves as a reminder that, even in the darkest of times, there is beauty in vulnerability and strength in honesty.
I Followed You to the End runs at White Cube Bermondsey until 10 November 2024, offering a profound exploration of the emotional and physical scars that define human existence.
