Tracey Emin

She had a troubled teenage life - was raped when she was around 13 and underwent an abortion at the age of 18.

In 1982, she began to date Billy Childish, an English artist whom she met while studying at Medway College of Design. Their relationship lasted until 1987.

She was romantically involved with Carl Freedman, writer and curator, during the mid-1990s.

Tracey Emin was born in Croydon, South London and was raised in the seaside town of Margate along with her twin brother, Paul.

From 1980 to 1982, she attended the Medway College of Design, South England, where she became part of an English punk poetry performance group called ‘The Medway Poets’.

She worked as an administrator for ‘Hangman Books’, which specialized in children’s poetry. Her experience there instilled in her a passion for art and she chose it as a career.

In 1986, she graduated from Maidstone College of Art after studying printing. Thereafter, she moved to London.

In 1989, she graduated from the Royal College of Art with a Master of Arts degree in painting. She also studied philosophy for a brief period at the University of London.

In 1993, she, along with her friend and fellow artist, Sarah Lucas, co-founded a store called ‘The Shop’. Together they sold their creations which also included T-shirts, ashtrays and other merchandise.

In November 1993, she held her first solo art exhibition, ‘My Major Retrospective’, at the White Cube gallery. Her works were basically inspired by her own experiences, which would later become one of her trademarks.

In 1995, she created a tent called ‘Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995’, on which she engraved the names of everyone she had an intimate relationship with.

In 1998, she released one of her most popular works, ‘The Bed’, a photograph of her bed stained with the body fluids of her and her partner. The following year it was exhibited at the famous, ‘Tate Gallery’.

In 1999, she uprooted a hut where she had previously spent time with boyfriend Carl Freedman and turned it into one of her artworks titled ‘The Last Thing I Said to You is Don't Leave Me Here’. This was destroyed in 2004 in an accidental fire.

Her magnum opus, ‘Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995’, was purchased by Charles Saatchi and was showcased at the ‘Sensation Exhibition’ in 1997 at the Royal Academy of London. It was also showcased in Berlin and New York.

Created in 1998, ‘My Bed’ is a Turner Prize-nominated artwork, which was purchased by Charles Saatchi for 150,000 Euros and was displayed at the Saatchi Gallery at Country Hall, London.