Lena Fritsch

Dr. Lena Fritsch is a Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Ashmolean Museum and an Associate Member of Nuffield College, University of Oxford. She bridges academic and curatorial roles, teaching within the Faculty of Oriental Studies and History of Art while developing international art exhibitions such as Anselm Kiefer: Early Works (2025) and This is What You Get: Stanley Donwood | Radiohead | Thom Yorke (2025–26).

Her research focuses on Japanese art and photography (20th–21st centuries), Neo-Expressionism, body and gender theories, and art-music-text intersections. She explores themes like death in art, collective memory, and forgotten women photographers, with publications including Ravens & Red Lipstick: Japanese Photography since 1945 (2018, 2nd ed. 2024) and The Body as a Screen: Japanese Art Photography of the 1990s (2011).

Recent publications highlight her curatorial scholarship on 21st-century Japanese art, experimental photography, and avant-garde practices. She co-curated the Roppongi Crossing 2022 triennial and large-scale retrospectives like Agnes Martin (2015) at Tate Modern, emphasizing cross-cultural dialogues and post-war artistic movements.

Her academic leadership includes teaching, research, and editorial work, with affiliations at institutions like Tate Modern and Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Lena Fritsch’s career exemplifies interdisciplinary collaboration between museum curation and university scholarship.