Tracey Emin Retrospective Opens
A major Tracey Emin retrospective is now open at Tate Modern, offering a comprehensive look at her influential career. The exhibition explores Emin's candid portrayals of personal trauma, womanhood, and social issues, including her acclaimed "My Bed." Critics note the show's emotional intensity and relevance to current women's rights conversations.
Titled "A Second Life," the exhibition features over 90 works created across 40 years, curated by Tate director Maria Balshaw. The name reflects a distinct shift in Emin's work following her diagnosis with aggressive bladder cancer in 2020, an experience that profoundly influences her more recent pieces. Emin first gained widespread notoriety as a member of the Young British Artists (YBAs) in the 1990s. Her 1997 work, "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995," a tent appliquéd with names, was a key piece in the seminal "Sensation" exhibition. The artist's Turner Prize-nominated installation "My Bed" was created in 1998 after a period of severe depression. Initially purchased by Charles Saatchi for £150,000 in 2000, it was later auctioned at Christie's in 2014 for over £2.5 million. Her recent art confronts her cancer and the extensive, life-altering surgery that followed. The newer works, including paintings and bronze sculptures, explore themes of mortality, vulnerability, and survival with a raw, visceral energy. Beyond the gallery, a monumental bronze sculpture, "I Followed You Until The End" (2023), is installed outside the Tate Modern, engaging the public directly with the visceral force of her work. Emin's recent output includes a series of self-portrait iPhone shots taken in the hospital, displayed intimately to make viewers consider the act of looking and the relationship between the surveyor and the surveyed. In addition to her art, Emin is a Royal Academician and was appointed Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy in 2011. She has also established TKE Studios in her hometown of Margate to support aspiring artists with studio space and residencies. The retrospective is scheduled to tour internationally after its run at the Tate Modern, with planned stops in Denmark, South Korea, and Australia through 2027 and 2028.
