Tracey Emin at Tate Modern is one of this year’s most important exhibitions, featuring career-defining works like Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made (1996) and My Bed (1998) alongside her multifaceted practice in painting, drawing, embroidery, sculpture, neon, and installation.
Curated by Jessica Baxter, the exhibition is refreshingly light. The highly selective list of works feel representative of her overarching oeuvre without feeling repetitive, including never-before-seen pieces like the quilt The Last of the Gold (2002). By avoiding thematic texts per room, the experience feels like one continuous journey through 40 years of creativity and life experience, which includes a corridor displaying new photographs of the stoma she now lives with following major surgery with bladder cancer. I’m generally very impressed by the rhythm of the hang.
Like Emin herself, this show doesn’t mince words. It’s raw, haunting, and generally depressing with a tiny sliver of brash humour. It just feels really honest and a good opportunity to give a second life to reassessing her ongoing contributions to contemporary art.
Tracey Emin: A Second Life (27 February – 31 August 2026) is at Tate Modern, London, https://www.tate.org.uk/
Nigel Ip 
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