True Love Always Wins
Signed Print

As one of the more controversial and experimental Young British Artists of the 1990s, Tracey Emin has been commissioned by the British government to create works that offer her distinctive style and ethos. To commemorate the participation of Team GB at the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro, Emin created this print to celebrate the sporting event as a triumph of love over division.

With Rio’s iconic statue of Christ The Redeemer at the pinnacle of the composition, the figure’s outstretched arms point to the hopeful words “True Love Always Wins” on either side in Emin’s distinctive handwriting. The twists and turns of the path that lead down the mountain at the centre of the work are perhaps representative of the many challenges and obstacles faced by the athletes, as well as in life. However, as the title of the work suggests, love always prevails and is the true victory of the Olympics. Emin has always used her art to show love as a uniting force among people. Even though this print celebrates the participation of Team GB in the 2016 Olympics, Emin’s lithograph focuses primarily on the host of the Games. For Emin, the borders between nations and the barriers between languages is no competition for love. True Love Always Wins is therefore a celebration of the Olympic Games as an institution which unites people across the globe, and the prevailing power of love.