THE JOURNAL
“Everyone’s got enough stuff,” Harry Weller says. “I’m at that stage where I want everything in my life to serve a purpose and be useful, which I suppose means I’m quite a difficult person to buy for.” As the creative director of Tracey Emin Studio, where he’s worked since 2009, Weller has an eye for the finer details. He organises everything from international exhibitions to auctions to the day-to-day running of things and serves as a confidant and creative counterpart to one of Britain’s most renowned artists.
“It’s funny,” Weller says. “Last Christmas, I actually bought Tracey something from MR PORTER. A cashmere coat from Acne Studios that happened to be in her size. It tends to be Acne with her. There was also a jumper from them that she loved.”
“I’m at that stage where I want everything in my life to serve a purpose and be useful”
Weller remembers first seeing Emin’s “My Bed” as a 13-year-old, an experience that he credits with steering him towards a life and career in art. “I remember my brother and sister were running around going, ‘What is that?’ ‘What’s that about?’ But I was really drawn to it. I don’t know why, but I had an immense and an immediate reaction to something. I don’t know what it was. But I think that work of art is a self-portrait.”
Being something of a minimalist, he struggles when it comes to being on the receiving end of a gift. “Everything in my house is white, minimal. I’ve got so much going on in my own mind that I like to live in a clean space.” Although he does have a sentimental attachment to a pair of cufflinks that were a gift from his father.
“I don’t often dress up,” he says. “Only for events. I like to be casual, with a bit of smart. But whenever I do dress up, those cufflinks hold a special meaning.”
So, this year, what’s on Weller’s Wish List for the big day? “Just a bit of peace and time off. We’re building up to the most important exhibition of Tracey’s life. A major show at the Tate Modern. So, I think a gift from others would be not to harass me over the holidays.”