About the Artwork

In what is arguably the most iconic body of her work, Tracey Emin uses neon tube lighting to create luminous coloured enlargements of handwritten texts. Her neons often consist of fragmented sentences or phrases that seem like confessions pulled from her diary. This particular work reads like the beginning of a romantic or erotic story, a mood that is heightened by the deep pink colour. By speaking in the first person and addressing the viewer directly, the work encourages the audience to identify with Emin’s inner world of emotion and thereby come to terms with their own.

Year: 2015


Tracey Emin, Your Lips Moved Across My Face, 2015, neon. © the artist. Courtesy the artist and White Cube

Material

Neon

Dimensions

100 x 150 cm

Artist Biography

Tracey Emin CBE RA

Tracey Emin was born in London in 1963, and studied at Maidstone College of Art and the Royal College of Art, London. She represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2007 and was elected a Royal Academician in the same year. In 2011, Emin became the Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and in 2013 Queen Elizabeth II appointed her Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for her contributions to the visual arts. Emin’s work has been exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions around the world. Most recently, she unveiled her City of Sydney permanent public art commission, The Distance of Your Heart (2018) and her largest artwork to date, I Want My Time With You (2018), St Pancras International, London, which followed her solo shows The Memory of Your Touch, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels (2017) and Surrounded by You, Château La Coste, Aix-En-Provence (2017).Tracey is currently working on her next solo show at White Cube, London in February 2019.