Ed Vaizey: The Night I Met Tracey Emin

Ahead of Tate Modern’s major retrospective of Tracey Emin, former minister for culture Ed Vaizey reflects on a unexpected friendship.

‘Tracey Emin Is A Global Brand For Britain’

Years and years ago (we’re talking the noughties), when the Tories were in opposition and I was shadow minister for the arts, Conservative Central Office came up with a wheeze – to hold a party for the arts to raise money for the Tories.

Now, there’s only one thing the arts hate more than the Tories, and that’s the Tories asking the arts for money. It’s like asking Oliver Twist for seconds. But it still went ahead, in a swanky private members’ club, and the arts world came – in droves. I guess that’s what happens when you are close to winning power.

I arrived early, and looked at the seating plan. I discovered to my horror that I was sitting next to Tracey Emin. I moved my placeholder. All I knew about this famous Brit artist (apart from her art) was a somewhat drunken appearance on telly at the Turner Prize. But then I discovered my backbone, and moved my placeholder back.

What followed could not have been lovelier. Emin could not have been better or more charming company, and we talked about tax policy. A friendship emerged; in fact I was having lunch with her when I got the call that I was to become arts minister. (As a fundraiser, it was slightly less successful and more awkward.)

It is hard to exaggerate not just how important an artist she is, but how much she has done for the arts in this country. She is a global brand for Britain, but closer to home she has invested hugely in her home town of Margate, building artists’ studios, a gallery, and supporting young artists. She is centre stage at most major museum gala dinners, donating away. People love her.

When I took her to lunch at the House of Commons, security staff and politicos stopped to say hello and shake her hand. The public adore her authenticity and rawness, never more needed than today.

So I am thrilled, as you should be, that she now has a major retrospective at Tate Modern. Called A Second Life, it covers her 40 years of prominence, from her unmade My Bed (1998) through to contemporary paintings and bronzes.

The show will bring together over 90 works of painting, video, textile, neon, sculpture and installation, demonstrating, according to Tate, ‘her uncompromising confessional approach to sharing experiences of love, trauma and personal growth’. There will also be a huge work on display outside, in the grounds of the museum. This is a blockbuster which cannot be missed.

Dame Tracey has only let me down once. She promised to make me a neon for my office when I became a minister. Instead, she gave one to David Cameron. She’s a smart cookie.

Tracey Emin: A Second Life, 27 Feb – 31 Aug (tate.org.uk)