Five new works by Tracey Emin to be auctioned at Phillips this November to benefit MOCA North Miami

NORTH MIAMI, FL.- The acclaimed British artist Tracey Emin has created five neon sculptures to be sold at auction by Phillips this November, with all proceeds benefiting the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), North Miami. The auction builds on a longstanding relationship between MOCA and Emin that dates back to the museum’s 1998 acquisition of Emin’s film Why I Never Became a Dancer—the first of the artist’s works to be purchased by an American museum. MOCA is organizing the artist’s first American solo museum exhibition, Tracey Emin: Angel Without You, as part of MOCA’s Knight Exhibition Series, which opens on December 4, 2013, in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach.

The new series of works by Emin, titled Loving (2013), transcribe the artist’s handwriting into five vibrant colors of neon. The works will be offered at a live auction and special reception for MOCA hosted by Phillips at its New York auction house on Wednesday, November 6. The fifth work, Loving (pink), will be offered in the Phillips Contemporary Art Day Sale on November 15.

“We are deeply grateful to Tracey for this generous gift to the museum, and to Phillips for sponsoring these auctions,” said MOCA’s Interim Director and Chief Curator Alex Gartenfeld. “Tracey’s neon sculptures are among the most compelling in her accomplished body of work. We look forward to illuminating these neons with our upcoming presentation of Tracey Emin: Angel Without You, the first exhibition to explore this important area of Tracey’s practice.”

“Tracey’s remarkable generosity is indicative of the close ties that MOCA engenders with its artists, many of whom have received their first significant exposure in the United States with exhibitions at the museum,” said Dr. Kira Flanzraich, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. “This auction continues the same spirit of giving that we saw when the museum celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2012, when we were overwhelmed with the generosity of artists who donated works to MOCA’s permanent collection in the spirit of giving back to an organization that supported them early in their careers.”