68. The Indomitable Tracey Emin on Her Exhibition ‘My Journey to Death’ And Her New School

Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House

This week we chat to one of Britain’s best-known artists, the indomitable Tracey Emin. Having wrestled with a particularly brutal and aggressive cancer, she is now setting up a foundation to help artists. In an extraordinarily generous philanthropic gesture, she has bought an Edwardian bath house in Margate and is transforming it into artists’ studios. ‘I want to give artists everything I never had,’ says Tracey. It’s no secret she had a tough start in life, and she explains to us why that made her so determined to provide artists with clean, warm, safe studios. She’s also going to be drawing on her friends in the art world to visit the studios to teach, inspire and encourage the artists working there. Artists can apply from all over the world, but this is no school for dilettantes – you will have to prove you are truly motivated to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Tracey also tells us about a new exhibition at the Carl Freedman Gallery in April. ‘A Journey to Death’ will comprise giant mono screen prints and self-portraits executed while she was just out of hospital. Plus, she chats away about the joy her two cats bring her – and much much more. Absolutely not to be missed – she is an example of extraordinary courage, resilience and a salutary lesson in how to grab life with both hands and make the most of it.