Tracey Emin stated on The Louis Theroux Podcast that male artists peak in their 40s, while women can create impactful work throughout their lives. She described Damien Hirst as a powerful force in his youth but suggested he is no longer at that level.
Emphasizing that women “carry on coming” creatively, she described male artistic peaks as “one massive ejaculation.” She acknowledged Hirst’s past impact on the art world but indicated that he no longer holds the same influence.
Hirst gained fame for winning the Turner Prize in 1995 with Mother and Child Divided, which featured a cow and calf preserved in formaldehyde. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Damien Hirst misdated several artworks, falsely claiming they were created in the 1990s and 2016 when they were made years later.
To support her assertion that women can produce significant art into later life, Tracey Emin cited Louise Bourgeois, who created new pieces until her death at 98 in 2010. She also praised Joan Mitchell as one of the greatest American abstract painters, surpassing Jackson Pollock.
Known for provocative works like Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995 and My Bed, Emin emphasized that being an artist is extremely challenging and requires immense conviction—something non-artists often do not understand.
Emin shared her personal experience with mortality, revealing her bladder cancer diagnosis in 2020, which came after she discovered a tumor while painting an abstract representation of it. Following extensive surgery that required the use of a stoma bag, she created a collection of nude self-portraits titled “A Journey to Death.”
When visiting Buckingham Palace to meet the King and Queen, Emin carried her stoma bag in a Victoria Beckham-designed bag to avoid embarrassment. Recently honored on the King’s birthday honors list for her contributions to British art, she expressed appreciation for the “pomp and ceremony” of the royal family, suggesting they deserve greater public celebration. However, she emphasized that she would never want to be part of the royal family, describing their lifestyle as a “kind of living hell” due to its restrictions.
Emin also shared her candid views on various other topics, including her admiration for 1970s pop idol Donny Osmond. She and Theroux reminisced about skipping a conversation with rapper Eminem at the 2001 Brit Awards to enjoy a more engaging chat with Donny Osmond.
