First: a celebrated solo exhibition at the Hayward. Then: an audience with the Queen in Margate. Now: Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy. Will 2011 be remembered as the year that Tracey Emin, British art’s enfant terrible, is finally accepted as a pillar of the art establishment?
Today’s report in The Times revealing that Tracey Emin is to be made a Professor at the Royal Academy, the oldest art school in the country, caps an extraordinary year for the Brit-pack rebel who - for those who never really moved on from 1997’s soiled bed Turner Prize entry at least - had become something of a by-word for contemporary art’s tendencies towards sensationalism and self-indulgence as well its failure to produce ‘proper artists’.
But fans of Emin who follow her work more closely often take a different view. This year’s Hayward retrospective demonstrated how her skills extend far beyond conceptual art and those deliberately crude embroideries, with drawing playing a vital part in each stage of her career. This year two of her compositions were selected as an official poster for the London 2012 Games, Little Owl and Beautiful Girl, both demonstrating her ability to ‘draw at the speed of thought’.
The Times claims that her appointment has upset several Academicians who don’t see her as a talented enough to teach drawing at an institution that once educated Turner, Constable and William Blake. They also quote the director of the Tate galleries Sir Nicholas Serota in saying he feels it is “a great appointment” as “drawing is the foundation for everything she does.”
Emin, 48, has since released a statement saying: "I'm really excited to be teaching again after so many years. I hope that I can add something constructive to the Royal Academy Schools."
Eileen Cooper RA, Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools said in a separate statement from the Academy: “In the history of the Royal Academy we have never had a female Professor before – and now we have two. I’m both proud and delighted by this development.”
Meanwhile on Twitter news of Emin's appointment is being met with a mixture of excitement and derision. See a selection of some of the best Tweets below:
Times are certainly a-changin for the Royal Academy who elected Christopher Le Brun as their new president last week.