Artist Spotlight: Tracey Emin
- yartlondon
- Apr 15
- 3 min read
“There should be something revelatory about art. It should be totally creative and open doors for new thoughts and experiences.”
One of the most celebrated British artists of all time, Tracey Emin is best known for her deeply personal, confessional work that explores themes of love, loss, trauma, sexuality, and identity.
Emin rose to fame in the 1990s as part of the Young British Artists (YBAs) movement, a group known for their provocative and unconventional approach to contemporary art. The group also included household names Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas and were criticised for their redefining of contemporary art.
Emin’s breakthrough came in 1995 with “Everyone I Have Ever Slept With”, a tent appliquéd with the names of everyone she had ever shared a bed with, from lovers to family members. The work confronted traditional representations of female sexuality as well as celebrating love, loss and intimacy.
In 1999, she gained widespread attention for her installation “My Bed”, a work featuring her unmade bed surrounded by personal belongings like condoms, underwear and vodka bottles. The piece lays her life bare, turning a private space into public art, and offers a raw insight into her mental and emotional state, whilst also allowing Emin to reflect on her healing process. The work was later shortlisted for the prestigious Turner Prize. In 2014, the work was auctioned by Christie’s London, where it sold for an astounding £2.5 million to Jay Jopling, founder of White Cube gallery.
Emin now works across many different types of media, from drawing and painting to sculpture, neon, video, and installation. Emin’s paintings in particular are celebrated for their raw, emotional, and deeply expressive nature and stand as powerful reminders of her trauma. Because of this, they have become highly sought after, with ‘Like A Cloud of Blood’ selling for £2.3 million in October 2022, with all proceeds going towards TKE Studios, Emin’s artist residency programme.
Following her cancer diagnosis in 2021, Emin has received critical acclaim for her openness and celebration of life, marking a profound turning point in both her personal life and her artistic practice. New works engage with themes of mortality and survival, with her figures becoming more ghostly, seemingly dissolving or re-emerging, and her paintings conveying a clearer sense of what she wants her art to say.
Overall, Emin remains one of the most poignant and collectible living artists due to her redefining of what it means to make art from life. Her vulnerability and strength have carved her a unique space in contemporary art, and Emin continues to evolve, confronting life, death, and love with an unflinching spirit.
Available to purchase from Clifton Gallery
The Kiss Was Beautiful
Details: Offset lithographic poster 70 x 50cm Edition of 500 Hand signed by Emin Published by Emin International
On My Knees
Details: Colour lithograph on Somerset paper 60 x 76 cm Edition of 100 Titled, signed, dated and numbered in pencil by Tracey Emin Published in 2021 by Counter Editions Mint condition as issued
Holding On To You
Details: Patinated bronze 37.5 x 42.3 x 2.6 cm The edition number, date, Tracey Emin's initials and foundry mark stamped on the reverse Edition previously exhibited at Galleria Lorcan O'Neill
Click below to view our full Tracey Emin collection. For more details or to enquire about any of the works featured, please get in touch.
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