Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), North Miami, kicks off Art Basel Miami Beach 2013 with the opening of “Tracey Emin: Angel without You” the first American museum exhibition dedicated to the acclaimed British artist Tracey Emin.
This is the first-ever exhibition to focus on Emin’s works in neon, a crucial aspect of the artist’s practice that began with her iconic The Tracey Emin Museum (1995), which opens the show. The exhibition explores how Emin’s neons have played an essential role in the development of her work, marking a shift from her early diaristic and confessional style to a more cryptic and open-ended form of expression. Organized by MOCA as part of the Knight Exhibition Series and curated by Bonnie Clearwater, “Tracey Emin: Angel without You” comprises more than 60 works from the past two decades. The exhibition title is drawn from a new large-scale neon work by Emin, on view in MOCA’s courtyard during the exhibition.
“Tracey Emin: Angel without You” continues the artist’s longstanding relationship with MOCA, which was the first American museum to purchase one of her works when it acquired the seminal film Why I Never Became a Dancer in 1998. This film—which features scenes from Emin’s childhood home in the British seaside resort town of Margate, replete with vintage neon signs—explores the story of Emin’s tumultuous adolescence and loss of innocence. Why I Never Became a Dancer (1995) will be included in the exhibition, which will also feature several of Emin’s most notable neon works, such as Sorry Flowers Die (1999) and I can feel your smile (2005). Many of these works consist of epigrams that transcribed into neon from Emin’s own handwriting.
“As a towering figure in Britain’s contemporary art community—and arguably one of the most significant female artists of her generation—Tracey Emin is long overdue for a solo museum exhibition in the United States,” says Clearwater. “As an early supporter of Tracey’s work, we’re thrilled to mount this unprecedented exploration of her neon sculptures—a medium that is not only appropriate to the neon-rich cityscape of South Florida, but has its origins in Emin’s hometown as captured in the film Why I Never Became a Dancer.”
The catalogue: In conjunction with MOCA’s exhibition, Skira Rizzoli is publishing a comprehensive book on Emin’s neons, also titled Angel Without You. Compiled in close collaboration with Emin, the book will include an essay by Clearwater about Emin’s development, work, artistic influences, and spiritual and poetic inspirations, especially the thirteenth-century Persian mystic poet Rumi; as well as an essay by the contemporary artist and writer Gary Indiana. It will be released in November 2013.
Special Events:
Art Basel Special Event | Dec 3, 2013 7pm | Reception | Access with VIP card, exhibitor pass or press pass
Dec 4, 2013 | Opening
- Artists:
Tracey Emin - Open:
Wednesday, 04 December 2013 - Close:
Sunday, 09 March 2014 - Address:
Joan Lehman Building, 770 NE 125th Street North Miami - Mail:
info@mocanomi.org - Phone:
+1 305 893 6211 - Web:
Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA) - Opening hour:
Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat | 11am – 5pm; Wed | 1pm – 9pm; Sun | 12noon – 5pm - Admission:
General Admission: $5.00; Students & Seniors: $3.00
