Tracey Emin (b. 1963)

Teenage promiscuity, multiple abortions, rape and tortured love affairs - this is the life and art of Tracey Emin. By telling her life-story through her own experiences, Emin invites us to share her most painful memories of her unhappy teenage upbringing. Emin is clearly a romantic at heart, and behind the facade hides a very sensitive girl with a confession to make. Often too intimate for some viewers, her work makes us feel like intruders on her personal space, raising a sensation of discomfort and, at the same time, a distinct sense of fascination - a fascination arising from our hunger for real-life dramas and the exposure of private lives for public consumption.