Tracey Emin RA CBE rose to notoriety in the late 1980's as a member of the infamous YBAs, Young British Artists, who dominated the contemporary art scene throughout the 90s.
Emin's conceptual works are intimately autobiographical. They are shocking, candid, honest, tender interpretaions of the female condition from Emin's perspective. Love, grief, loss and mortality are recurrent themes. Notorious for era-defining works such as Everyone I have Ever Slept With 1963-1995 (1995), and My Bed (1998) where Emin installed her own messy unmade bed in The Tate, Emin has evolved over the decades delighting collectors with confessional works spanning film, painting, drawing, embroidery and works in neon.
" There should be something relevatory about art...it should be totally creative and open doors for new thoughts and experiences."
Tracey Emin was born in Croydon in 1963 and grew up in Maidstone. She went on to receive an MA from the Royal College of Art where she is now a Royal Academician and Honorary Doctorate. In 1999 Emin was nominated for the Turner Prize, and awarded Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2013. She has represented Britain at the Venice Biennale and her works are in major collections worldwide including MOMA, the Tate and Whitney Museum. Emin's work consistently achieves 6 figures and has sold for millions on the secondary market.
Tracey Emin's latest venture is to launch TKE Studios, a revolutionary art school in Margate, as a means of giving something back and in turn renewing her sense of purpose after her formidable fight with cancer in 2018.