Blue Figure III

A member of the infamous generation of artists known as the YBAs (Young British artists) she became well known for her multi-disciplinary practice involving film, drawing, neon, embroidery and installation work. 

Emin’s deeply personal work is centred around a unique conceptual mode of artmaking that embraces both tenderness and audacity. Her works have often proved both era-defining and controversial involving a heavily autobiographical and confessional narrative that takes a frank examination of her own life and body. Emin has exhibited internationally and is frequently considered one of the most collectable Blue-chip artists that the UK has produced. 

In 2007, London's Royal Academy of Arts elected Tracey Emin as a Royal Academician and four years later, the Academy appointed Emin a Professor of Drawing. The University of Kent also awarded Emin an honorary doctorate in 2007. In 2024 Emin was appointed Dame commander of the order of the British empire (DBE).