Show time: Every day 10.00-20.00, Thursday until 23.00

Palazzo Strozzi presents Tracey Emin. Sex and Solitude , the largest exhibition ever held in Italy dedicated to one of the most famous and influential artists on the contemporary scene.

Curated by Arturo Galansino, Director General of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, the exhibition allows you to immerse yourself in the multifaceted activity of an artist who ranges from painting, drawing, video, photography and sculpture, experimenting with techniques and materials such as embroidery, bronze and neon. The title refers to two key words, sex and solitude, which permeate the over 60 works of a path that crosses different moments of Tracey Emin’s career, from the 1990s to today, in an intense journey on the themes of the body and desire , love and sacrifice . Many of the works are presented in Italy for the first time, together with new productions, in different media, created for the exhibition.

Known for a direct and raw approach to her art, Tracey Emin creates works in which intimate and private moments are transformed into existential metaphors that reflect on sexuality or illness, loneliness or love. Through honest and strongly autobiographical research, Emin translates personal experiences into intense and powerful works, in which the direct and explicit language of her famous neon phrases combines with the strong materiality of her paintings and sculptures.

Tracey Emin. Sex and Solitude is promoted and organized by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi. Public supporters: Municipality of Florence, Region of Tuscany, Metropolitan City of Florence, Chamber of Commerce of Florence. Private supporters: Fondazione CR Firenze, Intesa Sanpaolo, Fondazione Hillary Merkus Recordati, Palazzo Strozzi Partners Committee.

Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin DBE RA was born in 1963 in Croydon, London, and grew up in the coastal town of Margate. Throughout her career, she has developed a practice that spans drawing, painting, tapestry, embroidery, film, bronze sculpture and neon installation. The artist draws inspiration from her own life, drawing on deeply intimate experiences: from her sexual history and abuse, to abortion, relationships and, more recently, cancer and her health challenges.

In 1999 she attracted huge media attention when she was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and exhibited My Bed at the Tate Gallery in London. Since then Emin’s career has grown steadily: in 2007 she represented the UK at the 52nd Venice Biennale and in 2011 she was appointed Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy, becoming one of the first two women to hold this role in the institution’s history.

Today Emin is widely recognised at an institutional level. She recently opened Tracey Karima Emin (TKE) Studios in Margate, a fully funded professional space for artists, which also includes the Tracey Emin Artist Residency (TEAR), a free studio residency.

In 2024, she was awarded the title of “Dame” in the King’s Birthday Awards, in recognition of her contribution to the arts.

The exhibition contains content that includes representations of sexuality and the body that may be sensitive to some people. Access is recommended for children under 14 only if accompanied by an adult.

The exhibition participates in the  Spring Equinox 2025 project , a calendar from March 21 to April 6, 2025 that promotes the major contemporary art events in Tuscany coordinated by the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art.