Tracey Emin retrospective at Tate Modern receives mixed review

David Carrier reviews 'Tracey Emin: A Second Life' at Tate Modern, London, through August 31, 2026. The exhibition includes seminal works like 'My Bed' (1998) and 'Everyone I Have Ever Slept With', alongside recent paintings and sculptures. Carrier acknowledges Emin's status as a feminist icon and survivor of cancer, but critiques the recent sculptures as a mistake and the video 'Why I Never Become a Dancer' (1994) as underdeveloped. He finds the large paintings, on which she stakes her reputation, complicated, questioning their emotional impact compared to Edvard Munch. Carrier compares Emin's sentimental storytelling to Jean-Baptiste Greuze, concluding the show is not a great art exhibition but a significant social history event. Martin Gayford's book 'My Heart is This: Tracey Emin on Painting' accompanies the show.