Tracey Emin’s love for her home town will be highly visible to all when a bright pink neon sign is put up at the harbour.

The message I Never Stopped Loving You has been commissioned by Turner Contemporary and will be fixed to the historic Droit House at Margate harbour, a few yards from the emerging gallery complex.

One of the most prominent and controversial artists of her generation, Emin is known for her intensely personal artworks.

Born in London in 1963, she famously spent her childhood and teenage years in Margate and her formative experiences in the seaside town have provided the inspiration for much of her later work.

Described as a love letter to her home town, the pink neon sculpture will remain in situ from April 30 onwards and will also mark the last year before Turner Contemporary is scheduled for completion in 2011.

Talking about her new work for Margate, Emin said: “I came up with the idea for this neon for Margate quite a few years ago. The first time it was refused by the council. I was very hurt as I felt that my neon was a show of love and affection for the place in which I grew up.

“And now I’m very happy to see that Margate is welcoming back neon. I feel that it’s a shame that the Golden Mile has lost its lighted crowning glory. Margate needs neon to bring it back to its former glory. Everyone who is associated with Margate, whether it’s their past or their present, should never stop loving it. “This neon is for everyone that knows that Margate is a truly beautiful place.”

Emin has been working with neon since the late 1990s and her text pieces in the medium, always written in her own unmistakable hand, are among her most powerful and confessional works. These pieces typically deal with love and sex and range from graphic, uncompromising statements to more romantic expressions of regret.

The neons also elegantly combine two crucial aspects of Emin’s practice, namely her use of drawing and the written word, which features in everything from her monoprints and paintings, to her celebrated appliquéd blankets.

Emin said of the neon works: “I like neon, because it’s moving constantly and I like drawing. The chemicals going through the neon really turns me on. It’s sexy.”

Photo courtesy of Scott Douglas