From the Week of Hell ‘94
- Artist: Tracey Emin
- Date: 1995
- Medium: Monoprint on paper
- Dimensions: support: 422 x 592 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is 'From the Week of Hell '94', a monoprint by Tracey Emin from 1995. The piece is a stark diary entry: Emin puts herself in the center, literally a headless body lying beside a scratchy figure, and a crude diagram of a womb being emptied. It captures the raw aftermath of a week she describes as a "week from hell" in 1994—dentistry, a breakup, and an abortion. Her line work is quick and scratchy, matching the immediacy of her monoprints, and the text is almost like a breathless thought stream. Emin says her art is not about making pretty objects but about communicating, even when that means confronting pain. This print feels like a cleansing, a raw confession that pulls you into the emotional core of her experience. It’s a powerful reminder of how personal trauma can become universal through art.
See it in person
From the Week of Hell ‘94 is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
