The art of Tracey Emin - Mandy Merck

Tracey Emin, one of the best-known contemporary British artists, has become a potent symbol of the relationship between art and celebrity in our time.

Her now notorious installation My Bed was denounced by conservative critics as a scandal, but this and her other works have continued to attract ever larger audiences. Whether storming out of live television debates, talking about her abortions or modelling evening gowns for Vivienne Westwood, Tracey Emin makes headlines.

Yet if Emin is now universally recognized as a media phenomenon, her work has also begun to attract serious critical attention. In The Art of Tracey Emin distinguished critics address her achievement in depth for the first time, tracing Emin's influences from Egon Schiele to Bruce Nauman and establishing her place in a wider tradition. They show that however raw and personal her work may seem to be, it actually represents a carefully mediated response to vital issues in culture and society.