Tracey Emin was in high spirits as she opened her TKE Studios and TEAR (Tracey Emin Artist Residency) in Margate on Saturday wearing a town crier costume.
The 59-year-old artist attracted attention for the occasion in a red tricorne coat and white lace tie with ruffles.
She slipped into comfortable trainers and posed for snaps outside the venue before opening the doors for the first time.
She later removed the robe and donned a sports t-shirt emblazoned with her name and the number 69.
Tracey purchased the former Edwardian bathhouse in November 2021 before converting it into the building that now features artists’ studios and gallery space.
Big day! Tracey Emin, 59, appeared in high spirits as she donned a town crier costume to open her TKE Studios and TEAR (Tracey Emin Artist Residency) in Margate on Saturday
Celebration: The artist attracted attention for the occasion in a red tricorne coat and white lace tie with ruffles
In September, Tracey announced with an Instagram post that she finally got the all-clear after her battle with bladder cancer.
The artist shared a picture of herself in her hospital gown about to have her CT scans, along with a lengthy caption in which she admitted she was “very happy” and glad to be alive.
She discovered in June 2020 that she had a tumor in her bladder and was suffering from very aggressive squamous cell carcinoma that surgeons feared would kill her within months if it spread to her lymph nodes.
She then underwent surgery to remove many of her reproductive organs, parts of her intestines and lymph nodes, and was fitted with an ostomy bag.
Tracey revealed she’s been sober for over two years and admitted she missed her transplanted organs, but explained, “There’s so much more to me than a hole.”
She wrote: “ALL GOOD. In the hospital to do my CT scans and see my surgeon.
“It doesn’t matter how cool and stoic I am, inside I’m worried. This time because I’m happy, this time because I’m fine… I’m afraid to say I’m happy. But I am, my life is so much better, I am stronger and clearer.
“I’ve been sober for 27 months and life is getting more interesting every day and I care more about and care about everything that surrounds me.
Casual: She later stripped off her clothes and donned a sports t-shirt that had her name and the number 69 emblazoned on it
What a day: Tracey bought the former Edwardian bathhouse in November 2021 before converting it into the building that now houses artist studios and gallery space (pictured with journalist Dylan Jones)
“I have to be honest. I wish I had my bladder (a well-functioning one that isn’t riddled with cancer). I don’t care about my uterus or my incubator.
“But I really miss my vagina, my urethra and those bloody little lymph nodes that made everything ticklish.
“But hearing today gives me the all clear… makes me very happy and feels good to be alive. There is so much more to me than a hole.”
Before her cancer surgery, Tracey said she stayed up 24 hours while her attorney rewrote her will.
She then emailed 70 friends breaking the news of her cancer and instructed them, “Don’t contact me.”
She left an ostomy bag because she had “half my body cut out” and unfortunately she still has trouble painting.
Congratulations! In September, Tracey announced with an Instagram post that she finally got the all-clear after her battle with bladder cancer
Feeling happy: The artist shared a picture of herself in her hospital gown about to leave for her CT scans, alongside a lengthy caption in which she admitted she was “very happy” and glad to be alive to be
Tracey said in April 2021: “I don’t paint because I use my willpower to stay alive. That’s what I do.’
Tracey, best known for works like her unmade bed and tent Everyone I Have Ever Slept With, added she hopes to return to painting in the future.
“I never realized how badly I wanted to live until I thought I was going to die,” she said after learning a year ago that doctors had successfully removed all of the cancer.
WHAT IS BLADDER CANCER?
Bladder cancer is caused by a tumor that develops in the lining of the bladder or in the muscle of the organ.
According to figures, around 10,200 new cases are diagnosed in the UK and 81,400 people in the US each year.
It’s the 10th most common cancer in the UK – but slightly more common in the US – accounting for around three per cent of all cases.
The cancer is more common in men and has a 10-year survival rate of about 50 percent. About half of cases are considered preventable.
Symptoms of the disease include blood in the urine, urinating more frequently or urgently than normal, and pelvic pain.
But unexpected weight loss and swelling of the legs can also be signs of the deadly disease.
Smoking and exposure to chemicals in plastics and paints at work can increase the risk of bladder cancer.
Treatment depends on how far advanced the cancer is and may include surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy.
Source: NHS selection
But that didn’t stop Tracey from feeling “very happy,” saying last year: “I’m doing great, I’m doing so well.
“I’m so happy and just taking each day as it comes and I’m just so happy to be alive because there was a pretty strong expectation that I wasn’t going to make it through Christmas.
“And I’ll make it through Christmas and next Christmas and next.
“That’s what I’m striving for, so I feel really happy and good and I just wish the world would get better. I wish the world would catch up with me on this one.’
Tracey continued: “It could have been very, very different, so I’m so grateful.
“My surgeon and the team call me a wonder woman because I just sort of jumped up and got back into everything.
‘Maybe a little too fast at first…because I’ve been in bed for a month again. But now I’m balancing things and being more careful.
“I want to live forever. I want to do my art, I want to have more exhibitions, there are things to do… and I had to think, ‘I’m not going to do it’. I had to put up with that.”
Tracey compared her surgeries to child surgery or sex reassignment surgery. She also revealed she was working on a painting of a malignant lump before doctors discovered the tumor on her bladder.
Tracey is one of the best-known British artists of her generation, famous for her infamous work My Bed, Tracey’s chronicle of several days spent in bed in the grip of depression.
The bed is unmade and the sheets are stained, while a variety of items such as condoms, birth control pills, underwear stained with menstrual blood, money, and cigarette butts are strewn on the floor.
The work was nominated for a Turner Prize in 1999 and received an extremely mixed response from audiences and the press
Along with Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas, she was one of the so-called Young British Artists that emerged in the 1990s.
Highlights of Tracey Emin’s career
1995, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-95: This play first brought Tracey Emin to wider fame, both in the art world and among the general public
1999, My Bed: The Play is Emin’s chronicle of several days spent in bed in the grip of depression. The bed is unmade and the sheets are stained. A variety of objects such as condoms, contraceptive pills, underwear stained with menstrual blood, money and cigarette butts are scattered everywhere. The work was nominated for a Turner Prize in 1999 and received an extremely mixed response from audiences and the press
2001, The Perfect Place to Grow: This work pays homage to the artist’s Turkish-Cypriot father, who she says is a fantastic gardener but a terrible carpenter. It consists of a wooden aviary-like structure on wooden stilts
2004, Hate and Power Can be a Terrible Thing: This appliquéd ceiling work is a vicious attack on Margaret Thatcher and her participation in the 1982 Falklands War
2011, I Promise To Love You: In the 2000s, Emin began working extensively with neon lighting. These works contain words and phrases in her handwriting. Pictured is the 2011 neon sculpture I Promise To Love You