Frequently described in terms of shadowing and voyeurism, Sophie Calle’s insightful works explore identity and social relations through engaging with strangers. Now, for the first time in the UK, the Whitechapel Gallery presents a retrospective of the leading French contemporary artist.

The free exhibition brings together 12 key works from the late 1970s to the present, including the premier of the English language version of her acclaimed installation Prenez Soin De Vous (Take Care of Yourself), 2007.

The large-scale multi-media installation takes as its starting point an email in which Sophie’s partner informs the artist that he is leaving her. Sophie invited more than 100 women from different professions – lawyers, actors, dancers, and singers – to give their own interpretations of the email, resulting in a poignant, amusing and often poetic portrait of the women involved.

The upstairs galleries feature an overview of the artist’s earlier work including her first project, The Sleepers, 1979, in which the artist invited 29 strangers to sleep in her bed. Also on show is The Bronx, 1980, which involved Sophie asking random residents of the south Bronx to show her a place of their choice in what was then one of the city’s most violent neighbourhoods.

l Sophie Calle: Talking to Strangers runs at the Whitechapel Gallery, Whitechapel High Street, London, from Friday, October 16 to Saturday, January 3. Details: 020 7522 7888 or www.whitechapelgallery.org