Center for the Art of East Asia

Ellen Larson joins the Center for the Art of East Asia (CAEA) as newly appointed Associate Director. A scholar and curator of global contemporary art from Asia, Larson was CAEA’s postdoctoral fellow from 2022-2024, where her research and writing culminated in her current book project Ephemeral Architectures: Video Art from China since 1988. Larson also spearheaded high-profile public programming and media screenings, in addition to curating and developing exhibitions, courses, and events related to the study of contemporary art from Asia.  

As CAEA Associate Director, Larson will be the main point of contact for the Center, responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and managing operations, overseeing faculty and student support, in addition to developing long-term initiatives and strategic partnerships.

Prior to her Associate Director position, Ellen was appointed as a Margaret F. Williams Curatorial Fellow in Asian Art at the Asian Art Museum (AAM) of San Francisco, funded by the Asia Foundation. At AAM, she developed criteria for presenting new exhibition practices relating to multimedia artworks, theater sound, performances, digital (especially AI-generated) artworks, archives, community engagement, and nontraditional works.

Larson holds a PhD in contemporary Chinese art from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as master’s degrees in global contemporary art history and modern Chinese history from the University of Pittsburgh and Minzu University of China, Beijing, respectively. For over a decade, she has staged and participated in exhibitions, workshops, and educational symposia, aimed at reaching audiences within the US, Asia, and beyond. Larson’s Ellen’s research has been recognized and supported by the US Fulbright Program, the Getty Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Dunhuang Foundation, the Center for Contemporary Art Research in Japan Program, and the University of Chicago’s Provost’s Global Faculty Award.