Tracey Emin shared her candid thoughts on how male artists “sort of peak” in their forties during a recent episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast. Emin contrasted this with the enduring creativity of women artists.
“Men, they sort of peak in their forties,” said Emin. “They have just one; it’s like one massive ejaculation.… Women just tend to come and come and come and come and come. So, as a woman, you carry on coming all your life until you’re old.”
The artist cited the careers of Louis Bourgeois, who “stopped working the day she died” at 97 years old, and Joan Mitchell, whom Emin claimed is “undoubtedly one of the greatest American abstract painters ever, better than Jackson Pollock.” These examples highlight Emin’s belief that women artists better sustain and increase their creative output well beyond their forties, provided they receive the necessary opportunities.
“Women have the capacity of doing that as long as they’re given the opportunity to do it,” Emin said. “I think a lot of men peak in their forties, and women continue.”
Emin also name-checked fellow Young British Artist Damien Hirst as an example of male artists peaking. “Maybe Damien peaked; I don’t know; we’ll have to see,” she said. ”Only time will tell…it’s not clear.”
Theroux then probed Emin about British street artist Banksy, to which Emin responded: “No, we’re not going there. You’re trying to drag me down a hole that I don’t want to go. I don’t mind arguing; I don’t mind difficult things…Banksy’s a brilliant street artist, okay. Globally well known, gives lots to charity, very generous person. There you go.”
Adding a lighter note, Emin recounted an incident from a past Brit Awards afterparty where she and Theroux planned to meet rapper Eminem. “We wanted to meet Eminem because my name’s Emin. We thought it was funny,” Emin said. Instead, they spent the evening chatting with singer Donny Osmond—forgetting about the rapper completely. “We sacked off Eminem,” Theroux recalled.
In London, Emin is currently exhibiting a new body of paintings and sculptures at White Cube. Her show, “I followed you to the end,” will be on view until November 10th.
