Tracey Emin has designed the 2015 Brit Awards trophy, giving the iconic Brittania statuette a “girly” look, by turning it pink and adding a rosette motif in pastel colors.
The YBA has also added a handwritten message to the body of the figurine, which reads: “Congratulations on your talent on your life. On everything you give to others. Thank you.”
Discussing the creation of the statue, Emin told the Independent:”You want to do it really well. You don’t just want to decorate it, you want to make something that is really Tracey-ish, that is special for the people receiving it.”
The artist, famous for her revealing installation My Bed (1988), made waves recently when she claimed that being a good artist and a mother were rather incompatible (see “Tracey Emin Says Female Artists Can’t Have Kids”).
Emin’s design for the Brit Awards is part of a long tradition: the popular music awards commission a new artist every year to design their figurine. Philip Treacy, Sir Peter Blake, and Vivienne Westwood are some of luminaries that have already had a go at designing the trophy. In 2013, Damien Hirst covered the statuette in his signature colorful dots.
The first edition of the Brit Awards took place 1977. Although still a popular fixture of the cultural life in the UK, its viewing ratings are in steady decline. The broadcast of the ceremony gathered 9.86 million viewers in 1999. By 2014, viewers had decreased to 3.84 million. The 2015 edition of the Brit Awards will take place at London’s O2 Arena, on the evening of 25 February.