Social history versus art might well be the title of Tate Modern’s Tracy Emin A Second Life retrospective. 30 years ago her installation “My Bed” shot her to a tabloid fame and then gradually to national treasure though retaining her reputation as a “swearing, sexually aggressive provocateur.”
Her initial foray into conceptual art was taken initially as promiscuous boasting but was ultimately seen as a self-portrait of depression, following childhood neglect, abuse, rape at 13, and suicidal thoughts after a recent break-up.
Her oeuvre has been connected to women’s homespun, storytelling traditions from mining her abortion to other trauma. ‘She smashed taboos about women’s bodies, desires, abuse, periods, pregnancy.’
One reviewer wrote “The show is one extended howl of agony.” Another “Emin’s recent monumental paintings resemble an inner hellscape.”
“I could have loved my innocence” (2007)
“Just Like Nothing” (2009) (inscribed “You made me Feel like nothing”)
“Rape”, 2018
“You heard me Scream”, 2022.
Emin was treated for cancer in 2020 by the removal of many internal organs and now uses a stoma bag.
‘Emin tells her life as it is in a voice necessarily vehement, hectoring, narcissistic. This isn’t a criticism: autobiographical art, especially survivors’ tales, depends on an indomitable sense of self.”
“Art is for feeling not for looking”, she insists.
Born 3 July 1963 6.50 am London, to an unwed mother of Romani traveller descent and a Turkish-Cypriot father who had another family. She left school at 13, was raped at 13, later had two traumatic abortions and went through a suicidal phase.
She has a 12th house creative Sun Cancer trine a 4th house Neptune in Scorpio sextile (Uranus) Pluto Mars in Virgo – she dreamt of a happy home and ended up with ruthless, unkind Mars Pluto, which last would admittedly give her a do-or-die determination. But what is certainly her saving grace is an upfront and resolutely optimistic Jupiter in Aries in her 10th on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Mars sextile Neptune. An apex Jupiter would give her the confidence to promote herself, sometimes a touch too vigorously, but as a counter balance to her problems it would be a definite advantage. Her Saturn in the cusp of her 8th is square an intense Scorpio Moon and trine her Venus Mercury in Gemini – so emotional rejection would cut deep. Her Saturn is conjunct the centaur asteroid Chariklo, which carries the tale of eternal suffering. Algol, the destructive Fixed star, is in her 10th. Her Chiron at 14 degrees Pisces is trine her Sun and Neptune, opposition Mars – so a driving force for her.
I would have to confess I struggle with conceptual art, Joseph Beuys etc, and can’t get a grip of Emin’s work at all. It’s not the darkness and unhappiness that is the problem it just does not feel like art to me. Goya’s dark paintings I get. This not so much.
Paul McCartney is another artist with a natal Mars-Pluto conjunction. His is in Leo, ruled by his communicative Gemini Sun, suggesting to me a dynamic drive for self-expression fueled by creative passion.
He also seems to understand the emotional Mars-Pluto release and benefit that his songwriting and performing provides:
“One of the great things about writing songs is it’s almost like therapy. You can go in kind of angry or sad, and you put all of that in the song, and it kind of makes the song better because it’s real feelings in it. And when you finish the song, you feel a lot better.“
~ Paul McCartney
I was born within a month of her, I arrived across the pond, in sunny Southern California, August 7th. I probably have more in common with Whitney Houston, chart wise, but my eyes sure pricked up when I read your post here about Tracy Emin. I have never heard of her, and I was unaware of her, prior to this.
Personally, for some reason, I am having much emotional upheaval lately so I took a closer look at major transits taking place on specific timeframe dates from my childhood/teenage years. In my case, transiting Pluto hit my Libra Mars conjunct my IC. Then it eventually crossed the nadir. Uranus was squaring my Venus when I was 13, same as Tracy Emin, sexual trauma.
Uranus is in a 2nd closing square to my natal Uranus in my chart, now. Is it also squaring for Tracy Emin?
As far as releasing my own buried trauma, I agree with you, Marjorie. I do not see that as art. I see it as a form of ‘Trauma Dumping”. ( A current play on words that I have seen young people use, is “Trauma Dumpling”, along with a cartoon Japanese anime Asian dumpling.
My Pisces Chiron/Moon opposes my Virgo Uranus/Mercury./Pluto, so any trauma dumping that I try to initiate is met with even greater feelings of shame. I have to do my shadow work alone, in silence. But I sure do understand Tracy Emin a wee bit. The misogyny of the times was in full force. I thought I had it bad, until a classmate I had in Jr. high, she confided in me that she had been kidnapped by a group of men for a short time, before she was eventually released. She too, held that shameful secret. She was an innocent child, and it was not her fault. So many of us were completely unprotected by responsible adults at the time. So much went unreported.
At 62, I am so much stronger and smarter now. I feel so much safer now, then I did when I was a helpless girl. I never felt safe around other people, until I really did a lot of internal shadow work on myself and my psyche. I have also been able to counsel others on occasion, to help them see their own situations with another viewpoint.
Her Age Point at 13 years conjuncted Fixed Star Zosma, the victim star,
conjuncted natal Pluto, rape, sextiled her Sun, and trined Hades.
Age Progression used is 6 years per House.
Eris conjunct MC too.
Regardless of whether you can relate to the work, it’s important – Tracy Emin insistently shares what women are supposed to hide – and also take on shame and blame for. And now post cancer, post her second integrative Saturn return – her Scorpio moon theme of regeneration. She is also regenerating her home town – the site of her early wounding and supporting young artists to grow. A lovely cancerian thing to do.
Thank you for this piece.
Yes, there is something Chironic about her. Would be interesting to see more of the female asteroids in her chart. To return to Margate where she as a young girl experienced rape and abuse in order to help and guide others who have endured sexual trauma is perhaps the best side of Chiron in action and her natal Chiron opposes Mars, which is the archetypal ‘wounded warrior’ and/or one who has the courage to share their vulnerability. I remember the Tabloid Press trying to portray her as a promiscuous upstart on the back of her “All the People I’ve Ever Slept With” installation, failing spectacularly as they so often do with contemporary art, to avoid reading the piece literally.
So while I’m not the biggest fan of her art, I really do admire her for what she has given us creatively. She’s also quintessentially British, with a Turkish father and British Rominichal heritage from her mother.
“insistently shares what women are supposed to hide ” is deep!
I feel the same, Jaidy – it’s all the ways childhood difficulties express themselves and play out into adulthood. But with no filter and no apology.
I went to goldsmiths post YBA- Emin was huge even if Damien hirst sucked up most of the oxygen with his shark in formaldehyde- which, frankly, I don’t get. Emin speaks to me as a woman- she’s just like a writer who writes what she knows. I appreciate this look into her bc yeah, her art is like a howl of agony- if you’ve touched any of this kind of pain- you know… there are hundreds of books who speak the same story.
I had the exact same thought…. that her work is like an author of books.
My first glance at her chart saw that Cancer Sun.. and then the north node in Cancer. A Cancerian “learning” even more about the Cancer path… and in the 12th, for heaven’s sake.
I agree.. her work seems less like art to me. However, it DOES seem a lot like the “art” a wounded child draws when in therapy with an art therapist…. vivid, raw, ugly, dark, visceral. I certainly understand that level of pain and rage and I deeply admire that she is able to bring this emotion (Cancer) forward.
I think of Friday Kahlo’s art depicting HER pain…. deeply personal and physical… blood, miscarried baby, broken body. It’s like Tracy does that, too.. and takes it to a whole other collective woman/human level.
How incredible for Tracy to walk this path, to channel this level of agony.
I am so amazed by people.
Frida….. spell check had its way there. Sigh