Tracey Emin: Art as Confession

Tracey Emin

b. 1963 | British | Installations; Conceptual Art; Sculpture; Video

Emin is one of the great survivors in the art world. She is deeply and admirably loyal to her friends, colleagues, the students she teaches, the Royal Academy, and many worthy charitable causes.

But what of her art? It is by this that she will ultimately be remembered, or not. In her signature piece My Bed she laid bare her tragically unhappy youth (raped at 13; endless promiscuity; transient relationships; abortion). This public revelation was brave, but what she creates seems to be more about documenting her existence in a manner which is almost curatorial. The need to create things/installations/so-called works of art as self-explanation and self-justification now forms a significant part of what passes for art. How valid is the proposition that the celebrity/artist can by him/herself be a work of art?

My Bed, Tracey Emin, 1998, mattress, linens, pillows, objects, 31 × 83 × 92 in (79 × 211 × 234 cm). Shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1999; it was sold in 2014 for £2.2 million.

Tracey Emin, Black Cat, 2008. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy White Cube Gallery. © Tracey Emin. Photo- Todd-White Art Photography.

Tracey Emin, I Followed you to the end, 2024. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy Yale Center for British Art. © Tracey Emin. Photo- Ollie Harrop.

Key Works:Just Love Me, 1998 (Bergen, Norway: Kunstmuseum);Hate and Power Can Be a Terrible Thing, 2004 (London: Tate Collection)