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Dr Sarah James

Liverpool School of Art and Design

Faculty of Arts Professional and Social Studies

Email: S.E.James1@ljmu.ac.uk

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I am an art historian, researcher, art writer and curator. For the last twenty years I have worked as an academic researching and teaching contemporary art at UCL (2010-2018), University of Oxford (2008-2010) and as a visiting tutor and fellow at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford (2004-2007); the Courtauld Institute of Art (2002-2007); Cambridge University; the Goethe Universität Frankfurt; the Kunstgeschichte Institut Leipzig Universität, and the Humboldt Universität, Berlin. Most recently I was a Gerda Henkel Professorial Fellow in Frankfurt am Main (2020-21), a Paul Mellon Mid-Career Fellow (2019-20), and an Alexander von Humboldt Senior Fellow (2018).

I have written two major monographs: 'Common Ground: German Photographic Cultures Across the Iron Curtain' (Yale University Press, 2013), and 'Paper Revolutions: An Invisible Avant-Garde' (the MIT Press, 2022). I have published numerous book chapters, peer-reviewed articles, exhibition catalogues and essays. Alongside this, I have published over 75 essays and reviews on contemporary art in the international art press over the last twenty years. I regularly deliver public lectures and talks on my research at museums and galleries, including The Whitechapel Art Gallery, London; Tate Modern, London; The Photographers’ Gallery, London; The MoMA, New York; Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art; The Kupferstich-Kabinett, Dresden, and the Albertinum, Dresden. I have been invited to give papers on my work at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, York, Sussex, Nottingham, Leicester de Montfort, Newcastle, University of Colorado Boulder, Rutgers, the Courtauld Institute, the Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universität Leipzig, and the Freie Universität Berlin.

I have worked as an independent research curator on many projects, and was most recently Senior Curator of Exhibitions at Tate Liverpool (2022-2023), where I curated The Turner Prize, 2022. I led the curatorial team in delivering the special exhibitions and collection displays and in devising future programming. Over the last decade, I have collaborated on curatorial and research projects with many institutions in the UK, Germany and the USA, including HKW Berlin; The Archiv der Avantgarden (Egidio Marzona’s archive of 20th-century avant-garde art and ephemera); the Photographers’ Gallery, London; the Science Museum, London; Reina Sofia Madrid, and The MoMA, New York. The majority of these projects have been embedded in a collective model of research. I recently co-curated a major international loans exhibition with Prof. Sara Blaylock (University of Minnesota, Duluth), titled 'Anti-Social Art' which was shown at the Tweed Museum, Minnesota in 2022, and was accompanied by a catalogue. Like all my curatorial work, this exhibition was research-led and in this instance related to my most recent monograph, focusing on art and activism, ephemeral practices and artist zines, books and portfolios from the former East Germany. My curatorial work, like my writing, is rooted in an interdisciplinary approach, which bridges historical and contemporary practice and research. My research has been recognised by awards from the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, the AHRC, the British Academy, the Paul Mellon Centre, and the Gerda Henkel Stiftung. I have also been a scholar in residence at the MoMA, New York.

I received a B.A. in Social and Political Sciences and the History of Art from King’s College, the University of Cambridge in 2001. I was awarded my M.A. with distinction in Contemporary British Art in 2002, and my PhD in the History of Art in 2007, both from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London.

I always welcome enquiries from potential postgraduate students keen to research topics relating to contemporary art; documentary practices; ephemeral art practices, including mail art; German art; East German experimental art and collectives; histories and theories of photography; histories of exhibition-making; Eastern European art; the visual cultures, politics and technologies of the Cold War, Marxism and the Frankfurt School thinkers; the interwar avant-garde, and other topics that align with my research interests. Potential applicants should contact me directly to discuss your proposals.

Languages

German

Degrees

2007, Courtauld Institute of Art, United Kingdom, PhD
2002, Courtauld Institute of Art, United Kingdom, MA
2001, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, BA Hons

Academic appointments

Fellowship as a Research Professor, Gerda Henkel Foundation, 2020 - 2022
Mid-Career Fellow, Paul Mellon Centre, 2019 - 2020
Senior Research Fellow, Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, Goethe University Frankfurt, 2019 - 2020
Assoc Prof/Lecturer, University College London, 2010 - 2018
Lecturer, University of Oxford, 2008 - 2010
Director of Studies, Christ Church, History of Art, University of Oxford, 2008 - 2010
Postdoctoral Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung Research Fellow, Art History, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2007 - 2008
Visiting Lecturer/Tutor, Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford, 2004 - 2008

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