A major retrospective of Tracey Emin's work, "A Second Life," is on view at Tate Modern in London. The exhibition presents the artist's deeply personal and confessional body of work, including iconic pieces like "My Bed" and "Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made," which chronicle intimate experiences of love, trauma, and self-exploration through text, objects, and raw imagery.
The review argues that Emin's work, emblematic of the Young British Artists movement, pioneered a form of art-as-therapy that prioritizes extreme self-introspection and self-promotion over traditional art historical or socio-political commentary. This approach, which the critic terms a "cult of the self," resonates powerfully in today's social media era but raises questions about audience voyeurism when the art lacks broader curatorial framing about the universal experiences it touches, such as sexual assault and grief.