Sarah E. James

Sarah E. James is an art historian and writer. Associate Professor at University College London from 2010-19, she is currently a Humboldt Fellow and Lecturer at the Goethe Universität Frankfurt. Her first book, Common Ground: German Photographic Cultures Across the Iron Curtain was published by Yale University Press (2013). Her next, Paper Revolutions: An Invisible Avant-Garde is forthcoming with MIT. Her research for this project focuses on East German visual culture and ephemeral, paper-based art practices (maquettes, postcards, portfolios, letters, stage-set designs, book covers, illustrations, artists’ books, and posters) in relation to politics, friendships, and utopian thought. Rethinking existent models of collaboration and exchange, it explores the lived experiences of making, both in and outside of the art world. As well as publishing numerous book chapters, articles and catalogue essays, she also writes regular art criticism.

As of May 2019