Tracey Emin is widely recognized for her sexually graphic and highly provocative artworks. She is one of the most well-known and infamous British painters. She bases her artistic creations on her own life, often revealing intimate and/or sexual elements. Her art form’s sensational autobiographical aspect catapulted her to fame and sparked a media frenzy. ‘Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995,’ ‘The Last Thing I Said to You is Don’t Leave Me Here,’ ‘Feeling Pregnant III,’ and ‘Every Part of Me Is Bleeding’ are among her most contentious compositions. Rape and abortion are common subjects in her art, both of which she draws from personal experience. Her art drew the attention of celebrities such as Elton John, George Michael, Naomi Campbell, and Orlando Bloom, who are also avid collectors of her work, despite the fact that most of her pieces were controversial. She’s also raised millions of euros for notable and philanthropic organizations such as African AIDS support projects.
Childhood and Adolescence
Tracey Emin was born in Croydon, South London, and grew up with her twin brother, Paul, in the beach town of Margate.
She attended the Medway College of Design in southern England from 1980 to 1982, where she became a member of the ‘Medway Poets,’ an English punk poetry performance group.
She worked as an administrator for the children’s poetry publisher ‘Hangman Books.’ Her time there inspired in her a love of art, which she pursued as a career.
She studied painting at Maidstone College of Art and graduated in 1986. She then relocated to London.
She earned a Master of Arts degree in painting from the Royal College of Art in 1989. She also studied philosophy at the University of London for a short time.
Tracey Emin’s Career
In 1993, she co-founded a boutique named ‘The Shop’ with her friend and fellow artist Sarah Lucas. T-shirts, ashtrays, and other products were among the items they sold together.
‘My Major Retrospective,’ her first solo art exhibition, was held at the White Cube gallery in November 1993. Her compositions were often inspired by her personal life experiences, which would eventually become one of her defining characteristics.
She erected the ‘Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995’ tent in 1995, on which she carved the names of everyone with whom she had an intimate encounter.
‘The Bed,’ a portrait showing her bed soiled with her and her partner’s bodily fluids, was one of her most successful works when it was released in 1998. It was shown at the famed ‘Tate Gallery’ the following year.
She adapted a hut where she had previously spent time with boyfriend Carl Freedman into one of her artworks titled “The Last Thing I Said to You is Don’t Leave Me Here” in 1999. An unintentional fire destroyed this in 2004.
She organized the ‘Temple Of Diana’ exhibition, which featured a series of drawings based on Princess Diana’s life.
Her solo exhibition, ‘This Is Another Place,’ was displayed at the Modern Art Oxford gallery from November 2002 to January 2003.
Her first major retrospective exhibition, held at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art in 2008, drew over 40,000 visitors. ‘My Bed,’ ‘It’s Not the Way I Want to Die,’ appliqued blankets, neons, and other paintings were among the items on display.
‘Love is What You Want,’ her largest solo exhibition, was displayed at the Hayward Gallery in London in 2011. The exhibition featured works by her throughout her career, including paintings, drawings, fabrics, sculptures, and videos.
She was chosen to create a limited edition poster for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.
Tracey’s Major Projects
‘Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995’ was purchased by Charles Saatchi and shown at the Royal Academy of London’s ‘Sensation Exhibition’ in 1997. It was also shown in New York and Berlin.
‘My Bed,’ a Turner Prize-nominated work from 1998, was purchased for 150,000 Euros by Charles Saatchi and presented at the Saatchi Gallery at Country Hall in London.
Achievements and Awards
She was the second woman in the UK to curate a solo show for the British Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale, a significant contemporary art exhibition held in Venice, Italy, in 2007.
The Royal Academy of Arts awarded her the title of “Royal Academician” on March 29, 2007.
She was named one of the “100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom” by BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
For her substantial contributions to the area of painting, she was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours in 2013.
Personal History and Legacy
She had a difficult adolescence, having been raped at the age of 13 and having an abortion at the age of 18.
She began dating Billy Childish, an English artist she met while attending Medway College of Design, in 1982. Their marriage lasted till 1987.
During the mid-1990s, she was romantically involved with Carl Freedman, a writer and curator.
‘Strangeland,’ a collection of confessions and intimate experiences, was published in 2005.
In Uganda, she established the ‘Tracey Emin Library’ in January 2008.
In 2008, she gave her heart-shaped neon artwork ‘I Promise To Love You,’ which raised 220,000 Euros for a charity auction organized by ‘The Global Fund,’ which supports African women and children suffering by HIV/AIDS.
Estimated Net worth
Tracey Emin is one of the wealthiest and most well-known pop artists. Tracey Emin’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
During an interview with Channel 4, this Turner Prize-nominated British artist, known for her sexually explicit artwork, appeared inebriated, cursed on national television, and stated she wanted to go home to her mother.