A key exhibit in one of Blackpool’s most successful art exhibitions in recent years has now been acquired as part of the Grundy Art Gallery’s permanent collection.



‘I Know I Know I Know’ by Tracey Emin was displayed as part of the recent NEON: The Charged Line exhibition which ran from September last year until January.

The acquisition is the first made by the gallery using funding from the Art Fund’s New Collecting Award, their scheme that enables curators to pursue new avenues of collecting for their museums. They granted curator Richard Parry £80,000 to purchase key artworks relating to light.

The work was recently displayed at the gallery in NEON: The Charged Line,a major success with both audiences and critics which traced how artists have worked with neon since the 1960s. The exhibition saw Emin alongside other stars including Joseph Kosuth, Fiona Banner, François Morellet and Keith Sonnier and coincided with Blackpool’s famous Illuminations’ LightPool project.

Emin, who is well known for her work with fabric, embroidery and installations including the notorious ‘My Bed’ which was displayed as part of the Turner Prize in 1999, has also established a reputation for her evocative and emotionally charged work in neon. The artwork the Grundy has purchased, titled ‘I Know I Know I Know’, is from 2002 and is one of the earliest works in neon undertaken by the celebrated artist of the so-called “young British artist” generation.

Cllr Luke Taylor, Lead Member for Arts at Blackpool Council, said: “The funding from the New Collecting Award was designed to help galleries purchase culturally important pieces of work and we are delighted that the Grundy has been able to gather the support to acquire this fantastic artwork.

“The piece was a huge draw for the thousands of visitors who came to NEON: The Charged Line and incorporating it as part of our permanent collection means we can use it in future exhibitions for many generations to enjoy.”

Curator Richard Parry added: “This is an especially exciting purchase for the gallery marking the beginning of our new collecting strand around light. Tracey Emin works with neon in a particularly powerful way, hand drawn messages writ large that are both intimate and affecting.

“As someone who grew up in Margate and who has family connections in Blackpool, Tracey is someone who has an intimate understanding of what it means to live in a seaside town and I believe her work speaks particularly to audiences here. I don’t think there could be a more fitting starting point on which to build the new light collection.”

The acquisition marks the first purchase made possible through a New Collecting Award from Art Fund, and also sees additional support from the John Ellerman Foundation.

Stephen Deuchar, Art Fund director, said: “We launched the New Collecting Awards to support emerging curators in times of great financial pressure. We liked Richard Parry's bid to start a new collection of light in Blackpool, the home of Illuminations, and applaud this impressive acquisition, which is an ideal addition to Blackpool's public collection. We look forward to seeing what he acquires next."

Over the past decade the Grundy has established a reputation as one of the North’s leading centres for contemporary visual art, undertaking ambitious exhibitions which explore the relationship between art and popular culture.

Through the light programme and the expansion of the light collection, the Grundy is looking to become a national centre for artists working in the medium, alongside its wider programme.

Emin’s work will be shown alongside other recently acquired artworks as part of the Blackpool Art Fayre, which opened on Saturday and will run until 17 March.

The exhibition also includes works by internationally renowned artist Yinka Shonibare MBE and 2017 Fourth Plinth Nominee Heather Phillipson, as well as emerging and more established artists from across the North West and the wider UK.

All the works have been purchased with the assistance of external grants, awards and support.