Tracey Emin Reflects on 'My Bed' Artwork
Dame Tracey Emin has stated that her controversial 1999 Turner Prize-nominated artwork, My Bed, would be "tidy", "clean" and "boring" if she created it today.
The sculpture, which depicts a disheveled bedroom scene complete with cigarettes, alcohol, underwear, and condoms, sparked significant attention when first exhibited at London's Tate Gallery nearly 30 years ago.
It was sold at auction by Christie's in 2014 for over £2.5 million and has since been loaned back to Tate Modern for the new retrospective exhibition, Tracey Emin: A Second Life.
The London-born artist, now 62, told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg television programme that if she were to recreate the piece today, it would be "ridiculously tidy" and the sheets would have a "1600 thread count," indicating high quality.
She described the luxurious bedsheets and a less chaotic lifestyle as her "reward."
"It would be ridiculously clean with very, very beautiful sheets and very clean and very tidy... It would [be] so boring actually."
'Disgusted and Repulsed'
Dame Tracey Emin rose to prominence in the 1990s as part of the Young British Artists (YBAs) movement, alongside figures such as Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas.
The group became known for their entrepreneurial approach and bold use of unconventional materials, with some critics at the time accusing them of employing "shock tactics" in their art.
My Bed, inspired by a sexually charged yet depressive period in Emin's life, was heavily criticised for featuring stained sheets, soiled underwear, used condoms, empty vodka bottles, and cigarette butts.
However, Emin emphasized this week that the artwork had, in fact, saved her life.
She revealed that seeing the piece back on display had moved her to tears.
"I think it's because I nearly lost my life in that bed," she said. "That bed kept me alive. It's not an affectation, it's a real thing.
When I got up from that bed and looked at it, what I saw, I was disgusted and repulsed at the fact that I'd been laying in it and then I realised that I shouldn't be because it had been holding me and keeping me alive."
In 2024, Dame Tracey was honoured with a damehood for services to British art and also disclosed that she had recently received a four-year "all clear" from cancer.
Nearly two years after her diagnosis, she told the BBC that she still retains her "rebel" spirit but that being a dame has given her "a louder voice."
She expressed regret about smoking and feels a responsibility to speak out, especially as her works continue to be exhibited.
"The first thing I'd say to my younger self, when I was 13 and I took the first draw on that cigarette: 'Put it out and never do it again'."
"I've feel now a duty to say a lot of things out loud, a lot, and to be fearless about it as well, because I think when you face death like that... you're told that you've possibly got six months to live, you start thinking about your life."
Cigarettes After Sex
Her new exhibition prompts the artist to reflect on "what you would have done differently, what you regret" and what one would do "if you had another chance."
One of her main regrets is the "amount of sex" she had both as a child and teenager with older men, which she described as "really bad."
She hopes her work addresses subjects such as child abuse, abortion, and suicide in a non-judgmental way.
"If I'm talking about being abused as a child, if I talk sexually, if I'm talking about being [sic] teenage sex with older men - now it's called grooming, right? It wasn't when I was 14...
If I'm talking about suicide, if I'm talking about depression, all of the abortion, all of these issues that I make work about are really relevant and really important."
Dame Tracey said she now feels "hideously drunk" when painting late at night or in the early hours, whereas previously she felt "too guilty to paint" when younger.
In a wide-ranging interview, the south Londoner—whose father was Turkish Cypriot—also discussed immigration, the NHS, and her view that the UK is currently "in a mess" politically.
While she does not believe artificial intelligence will replace her as an artist, she expressed concern that AI is undermining truth in society.
She advocates for greater "respect and regard" for the arts, emphasizing that "being creative and making art is a beautiful thing."
Viewers can watch the full interview with Dame Tracey on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC One at 09:00 GMT on Sunday, 1 March.
