Yesterday I visited the Tracey Emin exhibition in Kunstmuseum Bern. Before I have been a bit sceptical about her work as I have regarded her more a publicity-seeking person with regard to the way she is presenting herself. However, already at the beginning of her 20-years retrospective I received another impression.

The exhibition guides you through her life by starting off with her CV read by herself in a video installation which moves around her apartment. Every single piece from her films, paintings to appliquéd blankets convey a very personal insight into her life with all its problems. These not only cover her childhood in her home town Margate or sexual experiences, but also her two abortions, among others. Things which used to be usually taboo topics in art.

It seems that her autobiographical art helps Tracey Emin to emotionally process all the traumatic experiences in her life. One example here is the video “Homage to Edvard Munch and All My Dead Children” (1998) that is staged at the same location as Edvard Munch famous “The Scream” (1893) – with the exception that her hearable scream is truly shocking.

The exhibition last until June 21, 2009 and is definitely worth visiting for getting a closer understanding of this unique artist.