LONDON, Sept 21 — Never try to sleep your way to the top, but don’t be afraid of making a scene: that is British artist Tracey Emin’s advice to women setting out in the fiercely competitive art world.
She shared her counsel as she announced an all-women exhibition at the Frieze London art fair celebrating a century since British women won the right to vote.
“Don’t sleep with gallerists or anybody who could enhance your career in any way,” Emin said in her advice to young women artists.
“Try to be logical in all your arguments and, if that doesn’t work, scream the house down.
“Work every hour God sends and, the most important advice would be, do not compare yourself to anybody.”
Emin first made her name in the early 1990s as one of the Young British Artists group, which often produced startling and controversial work and also included Damien Hirst and Sam Taylor-Johnson.
She is best known for her 1998 work My Bed, showing the crumpled and cigarette-strewn bed exactly as she left it after several days spent languishing in her room during a period of depression.
It was shortlisted for the noted Turner Prize and prompted a fierce debate over what can be considered art.
Emin and her studio created the upcoming “Another World” exhibition of 60 women artists including Louise Bourgeois, Rosemarie Trockel and Kara Walker in a collaboration with Deutsche Bank.
She approached female artists in the Deutsche Bank collection to create new postcard-sized works which will be sold off to buyers who will only learn the creator after they pay.
Over 800 works by 220 artists have been donated, and the money raised will go to fund projects to help vulnerable women.
“Another World” will be on display at the Deutsche Bank Wealth Management lounges at Frieze London and Frieze Masters between October 4 to 7. — Reuters
