凯伦·史密斯是一位英国艺术评论家及策展人。作为中国当代艺术重要的国际推介者，凯伦从1992年定居中国以来一直致力于中国当代艺术的研究。她对中国当代艺术不同时期发展状态的客观呈现，为中国当代艺术家撰写的专著，以及在国内国际专业刊物上发表的大量文章都已成为国际社会了解中国当代艺术的重要渠道，包括2008年出版的《九人传：新中国先锋艺术的诞生》，2012年开始的 《发光体：亲历中国当代艺术现场》系列书籍。2013年，凯伦接受德国Taschen出版社的邀请，担任《Art Now Volume 4》中国部分的作者。
2005年，凯伦成为OCAT深圳馆的学术顾问，并于2012年被任命为OCAT西安馆的执行馆长。2015年上海摄影艺术中心创办之后，凯伦担任主策展人一职，为中心策划了众多高质量的摄影展览。
Karen Smith is a British national, resident in China and specialized in the field of contemporary Chinese art. Her main activities are research, writing and curating. In mid-2012, she was appointed founding director of OCAT Xi’an, a contemporary art museum that is part of the OCAT Museum Group founded in Shenzhen in 2005. OCAT Xi’an opened in November 2013. Since 2015, she has also worked as artistic director of Shanghai Center of Photography.
Smith’s writings can be found in numerous monologues and exhibition catalogues. She has contributed texts to Art Now Volume 4, Taschen, June 2013; Vitamin D2, Phaidon, 2012; Vitamin P2, Phaidon, 2011 and numerous other publications, including the Phaidon contemporary artist series, for which she authored the volume on Ai Weiwei (2009). She has produced her won books: Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde Art in New China (2008) and the series As Seen: Notable Artworks by Chinese Artists (2011; 2013; 2015).
