It was never sex

1997

Artist

Tracey Emin, British, 1963-: Born: Croydon, England; Work Locations: London, England

Country

United Kingdom

Object

drawing

Medium

ink on paper

Accession Number

2001.722

Credit Line

Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan, fractional and promised gift to the Denver Art Museum

Tracey Emin
It was Never Sex, 1997
Ink on paper
Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan, fractional and promised gift to the Denver Art Museum ©TraceyEmin

Dimensions

frame height: 22 1/2 in, 57.1500 cm; frame width: 27 7/8 in, 70.8025 cm; frame depth: 1 1/2 in, 3.8100 cm; height: 18 7/8 in, 47.9425 cm; width: 24 3/4 in, 62.8650 cm

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Collection

Modern and Contemporary Art

Tracey Emin’s work is not based on art theory or lofty interpretative constructs. What you see is what you get in the bold, often insolent, statements of this artist who draws on her past and her present in highly personal sexual declarations. One of the notorious Young British Artists (YBAs) to emerge in the 1990s, Emin expresses her personal, sexual fantasies in a variety of media. One of her more enigmatic works, It was never sex, is a small, delicate ink drawing. An animal with a phallic tail climbs a flight of stairs carrying a small humanoid figure with a tail on its back. Emin asks viewers to find their own interpretations of the relationship between the title, the image, and ultimately themselves.