Tate Modern will present the largest exhibition to date of work by Dame Tracey Emin in spring 2026. Titled “A Second Life,” the survey will open on February 26th and run through August 30th. The show will span more than 40 years of the artist’s practice and feature over 90 works, including painting, sculpture, video, textile, neon, and installation. Conceived in close collaboration with Emin, the exhibition will chart key life events that have shaped her career, from her early years in the British seaside town of Margate to her recent experiences of illness and recovery.
Emin rose to prominence in the 1990s, during which time she was associated with the Young British Artists. Her confessional approach, in which she lays bare her own experiences, often revealing the pain of her reality, has helped redefine the role of autobiography in contemporary art. In recognition of her contribution to British culture, Emin was awarded a damehood in the King’s Birthday Honours in 2024.
At the heart of the upcoming Tate Modern show are two landmark works: Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made (1996), created during a three-week performance in Stockholm, and My Bed (1998), Emin’s Turner Prize–nominated installation that reflects on a period of personal crisis.
The exhibition will highlight Emin’s longstanding connection to Margate, where she now lives and runs the Tracey Emin Artist Residency, a studio-based art school programme. Works such as Mad Tracey From Margate: Everybody’s Been There (1997) and It’s Not the Way I Want to Die (2005) explore memory, place, and emotional vulnerability.
Emin’s experience of sexual assault and abortion will also be addressed in the show through key works, including the video work How It Feels (1996), the neon I could have Loved my Innocence (2007), and the quilt The Last of the Gold (2002), shown publicly for the first time. These works foreground her commitment to sharing subjects often excluded from public discourse.
Following her 2020 diagnosis and surgery for bladder cancer, Emin’s work has taken on a renewed focus on survival and the body. The recent bronze Ascension (2024) and stills from a new documentary—premiering at Tate Modern—confront the physical realities of illness.
The exhibition will also include new large-scale paintings and sculptures, including I Followed You Until The End (2023), which will be installed outside the museum.
“I feel this show… will be a benchmark for me. A moment in my life when I look back and go forward. A true celebration of living,” Emin said.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article was published with the first line of text missing. The article has been updated to include the missing text.
