Area of study: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art

Keyu Yan is pursuing a PhD degree in modern and contemporary Chinese art. He obtained his BA degree in Art History with academic honors from St. Olaf College. In 2020, he received his MA in History of Art from The Ohio State University. His master’s thesis, titled “Craft or Avant-garde? Contemporary Chinese Fiber Art at the Thirteenth Lausanne International Tapestry Biennale,” seeks to expand the canonized meaning of the Chinese avant-garde while redirecting scholarly attention to other mediums that have been ignored by previous scholarship on the ’85 Art New Wave and the Chinese exhibition system. Keyu’s work has been presented at the annual conference for the Midwest Art History Society, Science and Research Centre Koper Symposium, and the Mid-Atlantic Region Association for Asian Studies.