Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995

Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995
Title	Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995
Artist	Tracey Emin
Year	1995
Medium	Tent, appliqué, mixed media
Dimensions	Variable
Location	Destroyed; originally displayed in London

Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995

Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 was a mixed-media tent created by Tracey Emin that became emblematic of 1990s British contemporary art. The work combined textile techniques with autobiographical inscription and was associated with movements and institutions such as the Young British Artists, the Saatchi Gallery, and the Turner Prize. Its notoriety linked Emin to figures including Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Charles Saatchi, and critics writing for The Guardian, The Times, and The Independent.

Description and background

The tent was a small fabric structure into which Emin stitched names and phrases, presenting an intimate inventory of personal relationships that referenced locations such as Brighton, Margate, and London. Emin, trained at Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths, University of London, situated the piece within autobiographical art traditions alongside artists like Nan Goldin, Jenny Holzer, Guerrilla Girls, and Louise Bourgeois. Collectors and curators including Charles Saatchi, Dino Saulnier, and representatives from the Tate and White Cube engaged with the piece, which intersected public debates involving commentators such as Clement Greenberg-aligned critics and voices in publications like Artforum, ArtReview, and Frieze.

Creation and materials

Emin constructed the tent using appliqué, fabric paint, and sewn text, invoking craft lineages associated with Bauhaus textile practices and feminist textile discourse advanced by figures like Rozsika Parker and Griselda Pollock. The work incorporated found and domestic materials resonant with Marcel Duchamp’s readymade strategies and the relational aesthetics debates led by curators like Nicolas Bourriaud. Makers and technicians from studios affiliated with Royal College of Art workshops and private fabricators in Shoreditch assisted with structural supports and hanging systems similar to installations by Rachel Whiteread and Cornelia Parker.

Exhibition history

The tent was first shown in group and solo contexts in London venues connected to the rise of the Young British Artists, including exhibitions at Saatchi Gallery and late-1990s displays around the Turner Prize circuit. International loans and catalogue entries brought the work into contact with institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, and the Whitney Museum of American Art through exchanges involving curators who had worked with Nicholas Serota and Sir Norman Rosenthal. The piece appeared in catalogues and biennials alongside works by Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Chris Ofili, and Mark Wallinger, and it circulated in critical essays published by editors at Phaidon and contributors to survey volumes on contemporary British art.

Reception and controversies

Critical reception was polarized: some commentators hailed the tent as a candid feminist statement comparable to the confessional modes of Sinead O'Connor or the intimacy of Sophie Calle, while others accused the work of sensationalism in outlets such as The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, and The New Statesman. Debates invoked politicians and moralists, with commentators drawing parallels to public controversies involving Mary Whitehouse-era censorship and later arts funding disputes in dialogues with figures from Arts Council England and members of Parliament including Kenneth Clarke and Jack Straw. The piece’s autobiographical inscription produced sustained coverage in broadcast media, including features on BBC Radio 4 and segments on BBC Two arts programmes, contributing to discussions about taste, authorship, and the marketplace in which collectors like Charles Saatchi played an active role.

Vandalism and restoration

In a notorious act of vandalism tied to the 2004 explosion at the Momart warehouse, the tent was destroyed along with works by other Young British Artists, prompting debates among conservators and legal inquiries involving insurers such as Lloyd's of London. The loss stimulated interventions by conservators and critics referencing restoration debates raised in cases involving works by Piero Manzoni and Kazimir Malevich, and engaged museum policies developed by institutions like Tate Modern and Victoria and Albert Museum. Legal and insurance responses involved solicitors and cultural administrators from organizations such as the Courtauld Institute of Art and professional bodies including the International Council of Museums.

Legacy and cultural impact

Although physically destroyed, the tent’s legacy persists across scholarship, curatorial practice, and popular culture, influencing artists from the UK and beyond such as Grayson Perry, Banksy, Phyllida Barlow, and Tacita Dean. The piece figures in academic discussions at institutions like University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Goldsmiths, University of London on autobiography, gender, and materiality, and it appears in monographs and retrospectives by publishers including Thames & Hudson and Rizzoli. Cultural references extend to film, television, and literature, with commentators drawing lines to works by Iain Sinclair, Hanif Kureishi, and filmmakers whose narratives examine late-20th-century Britain such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. The tent also shaped collecting practices among patrons linked to galleries in Soho, Knightsbridge, and international auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's, ensuring its continued citation in histories of contemporary art and debates about authenticity, memory, and display.

Category:Contemporary art Category:1995 works Category:Tracey Emin