Emin had her first solo exhibition Every Part of Me’s Bleeding at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery in 1999. The show contained works across a variety of mediums, including the installation that helped to launch her career and reputation, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995, or The Tent (1994). Presented at the Young British Artist's show, this work consisted of a canvas tent, with 102 names of every person Emin had ‘slept’ with sewn into the walls.

Did Tracey Emin win the Turner Prize?

Another of the artists' most notorious works is Tracey Emin's 'My Bed', for which she got nominated to the Turner Prize in 1999. An iconic Tracey Emin artwork, My Bed was created in response to Emin’s grief following a breakup and made no attempt to hide the ugly reality. Consisting of the artist’s own bed, we see soiled sheets and underwear, empty alcohol bottles, condoms, and even bodily fluids utilised by Emin here. This work recreated the physical aftermath of what the artist called her “mini nervous breakdown” where she did not leave her bed for four days. Despite Emin not winning the Turner Prize that year, her name was irrevocably solidified in the leading contemporary art scene.

Tracey Emin's Neon and Nude works

In addition to her shocking installations, Emin is well known for her neon works and her drawings, many of which self-portraits, where all of her fragility best come to life. Her Nude Drawings and Nude Self-Portraits series show the artist at her most vulnerable, unafraid of showing her true self. In her neon works, the artist communicates her emotions directly with the viewer through short, often intentionally misspelled, phrases. As Emin claims, “neon is emotional for everybody.”

In an interview in 2006, Emin stated that expressionist artists such as Egon Schiele and Edvard Munch have always been sources of inspiration for her. Munch’s 1895 painting Jealousy in particular spoke to a sense of self-effacement and brutal personal honesty that Emin is now known for herself. Indeed, the two artist’s works were paired in the recent Royal Academy Exhibition, Loneliness of the Soul, in 2021, where Emin’s choice of Munch works demonstrates their similarities.

Her use of neon lighting also indicates the influence of artist Bruce Nauman, and Emin’s focus on the confessional, and of the female experience draws influence from earlier feminist artists such as Carolee Schneeman and Frida Khalo.

Emin’s work is often viewed in terms of the abuse she suffered as a young teenager, and Emin herself has never shied away from discussing her rape at age 13, and the culture of sexual assault that surrounded her in her town growing up, as something that 'happened to a lot of girls.'

YBA Artists

Emin joined the Young British Artists group, alongside huge names such as Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas in the early 90s. Her and Lucas opened The Shop in Bethnal Green in 1993, where they sold their works, namely t-shirts and ashtrays printed with slogans the pair created. While her media presence became less sensational after the 1990s, Emin remained a seminal figure in British contemporary art, with many high profile celebrity collectors, including Elton John and Orlando Bloom. She represented Britain in the 2007 Venice Biennale and was made a Royal Academician that same year.

She was appointed a CBE in 2013 and currently resides in Margate after surviving her battle with bladder cancer. When she does die she expresses her hope that her studio here will become a museum.

Tracey Emin's Drawings

Tracey Emin’s diaristic drawings are often a starting point for her original works and stunning prints. As part of her broader artistic practice, each of her prints builds a relationship with her drawings – the most intimate of her works.

Tracey Emin Prints

Emin has engaged with printmaking for many years and regards it as a key medium. She focuses on creating work that hones the potent mix of pain, frustration, love and humour for which she is so well known.

Emin’s prints of her handwriting, birds or squirrels are highly autobiographical and can be seen as self-portraits. She has produced prints for the respected Counter Editions, as well as the Royal Academy, where she is an Academician.

Emin’s consistent printmaking has resulted in a healthy catalogue. With accessible prices and small edition numbers generally between 100-200, her prints are part of a fluid marketplace and a great way to begin a collection.

The artist’s popularity knows no bounds and as her career progresses, interest has never waned. She was awarded a CBE in 2012 for services to the arts and her accolades keep building up. An Emin print, therefore, represents a great opportunity to own a part of her legacy that is internationally significant.