Staff

Joe Earle, Vice President, Japan Society & Director, Japan Society Gallery
Kristen Sollee, Gallery Officer

Joe Earle

Appointed in September 2007, Joe Earle has worked for more than 30 years in the field of Asian and Japanese arts and cultures. He is a graduate of Oxford University, where he majored in Chinese language and literature. In 1974 he joined the newly-formed Far Eastern Department of London's Victoria and Albert Museum and began to specialize in Japanese art, creating exhibitions on contemporary lacquer, ceramics and design as well as serving as consultant to the Royal Academy's groundbreaking Great Japan Exhibition (1981-82).

On becoming head of the V & A's Far Eastern Department in 1983, Earle spearheaded the creation of the Toshiba Gallery of Japanese Art. After three years as the V & A's Head of Public Services, he embarked on a freelance career from 1990 until 2003. During that time he acted as coordinator for the Visions of Japan exhibition, centerpiece of the 1991 UK Japan Festival, and curated numerous shows in Europe, Japan and the United States, as well as writing catalogues for a wide variety of leading collectors, commercial galleries, auction houses and museums.

In 2000 he began working as a consultant to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and in 2003 he was appointed first Chair of the MFA's Department of Art of Asia, Oceania and Africa. Earle has authored, translated or edited more than a dozen books and catalogues on Japanese art topics ranging from early medieval garden design through the export crafts of the Meiji era to contemporary art and design.

Kristen Sollee

Kristen Sollee earned a BA in Arts Journalism from the New School and a MA in East Asian Studies with a focus on gender in Japanese literature from Columbia University. For the past decade, she has been intimately involved with the arts in New York City, writing about music, fashion, visual art and theater for magazines such as Time Out, NYLON and Classical Singer. Her coverage of emerging Japanese artists in the U.S. has been featured in both academic conferences and arts publications.