Tracey Emin shuns sex for ideas

Tracey Emin has never shied away from sex, and her new exhibition, which features a "looped animation" of 150 drawings of a woman masturbating, is no exception. But as she nears her 50th birthday, the controversial artist admits that she is now more interested in "ideas".

At the opening of the show at the White Cube gallery in Mayfair, she said that the "craziness" she felt about sex was fading. "Sex was what kept me in bed and sex was what got me out of bed when I was younger. It was never about money, it was always about sex," she revealed.

"But I don't have that same craziness about sex I used to have. I'm more interested in ideas.”

So who modelled for the 150 drawings? Not Emin, she insists. Although she has often made herself the subject of her work, she based this series on images from vintage pornography magazines.

Other works in the exhibition include a pink neon sign reading: "Oh Christ I just wanted you to fuck me and then I became greedy, I wanted you to love me." Although some pieces date back 18 years, none has been shown before.