Tracey Emin C.V.
- Artist: Tracey Emin
- Date: 1995
- Medium: Ink on paper
- Dimensions: support: 296 x 209 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Tracey Emin C.V.” by Tracey Emin. It’s a set of nine A‑4 pages, all written in turquoise ink, numbered in pencil at the top right. The text is a rapid, note‑style chronicle of her life from the day she and her twin brother were conceived in Ireland in 1962 up to 1995. It mixes the mundane—her schooling, her print‑making courses, the art degrees she earned—with raw, personal moments: the abuse she suffered, the abortions she endured, the love affairs that spanned continents, and the turning point when she felt she was no longer a victim.
Emin blurs the line between curriculum vitae and self‑portrait. By treating everyday events as artistic material, she argues that emotion is as vital to art as technique. The piece is even accompanied by a video in which Emin reads the text aloud, giving the reader a living, breathing voice behind the ink. It’s a stark, candid confession that turns trauma into a form of creative validation, inviting us to question what we consider “official” biography in the art world.
See it in person
Tracey Emin C.V. is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
