Inside Tracey Emin’s New Show At The Tate Modern
The seminal exhibit celebrates 40 years of the artist affectionately known as the ‘enfant terrible’ of the Young British Artists.
Art has had its scandals over the centuries. Manet’s Olympia in 1865, of a young nude, shocked Paris and the world; the ready-made urinal called Fountain by Duchamp in 1917 caused many to say, “My kid could make that!”; 1937’s raw, death-infused Guernica by Picasso, depicting the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, triggered protests; and most recently, the €6.5 million banana taped to a wall, Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan.
Still, one controversial work lives in our collective consciousness rent-free, a polarising symbol of all that is wrong with modern art for those irritated by the elite self-indulgence of such pieces, and celebrated in equal measure by the side that sees such honest artworks as boundary-pushing masterpieces. That work is Tracey Emin’s My Bed from 1998, which became so iconic, so shocking, that it reoriented not only the art world of the day but also started a radical discussion of auto art, of raw, almost disturbing honesty about the unseen, traumatised lives of young women—all by simply taking Emin’s unkempt, messy bed and placing it in the Tate Modern, without filter or explanation, as it was nominated for that year’s Turner Prize in 1999 (ironically, it didn’t win).
Emin had kick-started the Young British Artists (YBA), and the world would never be the same. That one moment, that one artwork, made Emin famous in the UK and abroad—a media star and a cultural icon. Had she stopped there, she would have made modern art history by that achievement alone.
Luckily for us, that was simply the beginning of a career that would see Emin continue to push boundaries, as well as explore art forms such as textiles, neon, bronze, painting, and, of course, installations and sculptural works, all underpinned by one element: brutal honesty. Take, for example, her video works such as Why I Never Became a Dancer from 1995, describing how cruel the boys in Margate, her hometown, were to her; or her cancer journey from 2020, painfully shown and shared. Even her death mask, made at the age of 34, is exhibited, as she faced numerous moments of the existential abyss.
Now, with the biggest show of her career—a 40-year span of work shown in what could be seen as the spiritual gallery space of her oeuvre—the Tate Modern has created a true retrospective that overviews all the vicissitudes of Dame Emin’s remarkable life and career, one that has vaulted her to be seen as one of the greatest living artists and, certainly, England’s grand dame of daring.
“I’m very excited about having a show at Tate Modern,” Emin said in a statement. “For me, it’s one of the greatest international contemporary art museums in the world, and it’s here in London. I feel this show, titled A Second Life, will be a benchmark for me. A moment in my life when I look back and go forward. A true celebration of living,” she added of the landmark exhibit, one whose breadth is as daring as her openness to using her lived experience as her creative medium.
Joining Nan Goldin’s show at the Grand Palais in Paris and the upcoming Frida Kahlo show at the Tate Gallery in the second half of the year, it is the year of great female artists.
Tracey Emin: A Second Life is now on at the Tate Modern until 31 August 2026.
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