Ellen Levy

She earned her doctorate from the University of Plymouth in 2012 on the study of art and the neuroscience of attention, and received her diploma in painting from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, following a BA from Mount Holyoke College in Zoology.{{cite news |last1=Carey |first1=Brainard |title=Interview: Ellen K. Levy |url=https://museumofnonvisibleart.com/interviews/ellen-k-levy/ |accessdate=1 June 2018 |agency=Yale Broadcasting Company |publisher=Praxis Interview Magazine, WYBC, Yale University |date=January 6, 2016}}

Levy, "whose fascination with technology is not only tinged by skepticism but also rivaled by an interest in the acts of God that are sometimes visited on grand technological schemes -- witness the Challenger," was one of the early artists commissioned by the NASA Art Program, in 1985.{{cite news |last1=Raynor |first1=Viven |title=ART; Worlds Falling Apart and Getting Hooked Up |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/08/nyregion/art-worlds-falling-apart-and-getting-hooked-up.html |accessdate=14 August 2018 |issue=13 |work=The New York Times |date=January 8, 1995}}{{cite book |last1=Schulman |first1=Robert |title=Visions of flight : a retrospective from the NASA Art Collection |date=1988 |publisher=United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) |page=29 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112104415119;view=1up;seq=3 |accessdate=1 October 2018}}{{cite journal |last1=Marter |first1=Joan |title=Ellen K. Levy |journal=Arts Magazine |date=1987 |volume=61|pages=97–99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JFHrAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Ellen+K.+Levy%22 |accessdate=7 September 2018}} Her early career focused on painting and exhibitions at then alternative science spaces such as the New York Academy of Sciences in 1984, NASA; and the National Academy of Sciences, and is also in their collection.{{cite news |last1=Levy |first1=Ellen K. |title=Mirrors and Reflections: A Personal Recollection |url=http://convergencebook.net/online-version/#/page/59 |accessdate=17 September 2018 |agency=National Academy of Sciences |publisher=The Art Collection of the National Academy of Sciences}}{{cite web |title=Genetic fruit, thoughtful trees: Academy treasures |url=https://www.newscientist.com/gallery/genetic-fruit-thoughtful-trees-academy-treasures/ |website=newscientist.com |publisher=New Scientist |accessdate=19 July 2018}} She has had numerous solo exhibitions in the United States and abroad, including at Associated American Artists{{cite web |last1=Ebony |first1=David |title=David Ebony's Top Ten Ellen K. Levy at Associated American Artists |url=http://www.artnet.com/magazine_pre2000/reviews/ebony/ebony(5)1-21-98.asp |website=artnet.com |publisher=Artnet Worldwide Corporation |accessdate=8 September 2018}} and Michael Steinberg Fine Arts in New York City.{{cite web |last1=Pearlman |first1=Ellen |title=Art Seen: Ellen K. Levy |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2009/04/artseen/ellen-k-levy |website=brooklynrail.org |date=6 April 2009 |publisher=The Brooklyn Rail |accessdate=31 May 2018}} Shared Premises: Innovation and Adaptation was exhibited at the National Technical Museum in Prague.{{cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=Bruce |title=Painting in the House of Solomon: Ellen K. Levy's Work Revisited |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-464162767.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815024418/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-464162767.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=August 15, 2018 |journal=Woman's Art Journal |accessdate=9 August 2018 |date=September 22, 2013}} Her work was also included in the Second Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art exhibit, Petroliana (Oil Patriotism).{{cite web |title=Petroliana |url=http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2007/03/petroliana.html |website=newsgrist.typepad.com |publisher=Newsgrist - where spin is art |accessdate=14 August 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Niedowski |first1=Erika |title=Artists take dissenting view of Russia's new oil riches |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2007/03/25/artists-take-dissenting-view-of-russias-new-oil-riches/ |access-date=14 August 2018 |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=March 25, 2007}}

Her talks and exhibitions explore attention, perception, and genetics,{{cite journal |last1=Kemp |first1=Martin |title=The Mona Lisa of modern science |journal=Nature |date=January 23, 2003 |volume=421 |issue=6921 |pages=416–420 |doi=10.1038/nature01403 |pmid=12540913 |bibcode=2003Natur.421..416K |doi-access=free }}{{cite news |last1=Genocchio |first1=Benjamin |title=ART REVIEW; The Haunting Terrain Between Creation and Science |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/nyregion/art-review-the-haunting-terrain-between-creation-and-science.html |accessdate=3 January 2019 |work=New York Times |date=February 6, 2005}}{{cite news |last1=Goodman |first1=Jonathan |title=Ellen K. Levy: Stealing Attention at Michael Steinberg Fine Art |url=http://www.artcritical.com/2009/04/08/ellen-k-levy-stealing-attention-at-michael-steinberg-fine-art/ |accessdate=8 January 2019 |publisher=Art Critical |date=April 8, 2009}}{{cite web |title=Re-Invention: My Life as an Astronaut, Artwork by Ellen Levy |url=https://artswestchester.org/events/re-invention-my-life-as-an-astronaut-artwork-by-ellen-levy-2020-04-02/ |website=artswestchester.org |date=28 February 2020 |publisher=Arts Westchester |access-date=1 June 2021}}{{cite web |title=Ellen K. Levy: Decoding Metaphors for the 21st Century |work=The Feminist Art Project |url=https://feministartproject.rutgers.edu/calendar/view/2515/ |publisher=Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey |access-date=1 June 2021}}{{cite news |title=Culture in Mendel's Garden by Ellen K. Levy |url=http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/05_02/mendels_garden_art.shtml |access-date=1 June 2021 |publisher=Genome News Network |date=May 24, 2002}} including human error and inattention blindness in Stealing Attention;{{cite news |last1=Goodman |first1=Jonathan |title=Ellen K. Levy: Stealing Attention at Michael Steinberg Fine Art |url=http://www.artcritical.com/2009/04/08/ellen-k-levy-stealing-attention-at-michael-steinberg-fine-art/ |accessdate=3 January 2019 |publisher=Art Critical |date=April 8, 2009}}{{cite news |last1=Martinez-Conde |first1=Susana |title=Illusion Chasers: Artist Ellen Levy Steals Your Attention |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/illusion-chasers/artist-ellen-levy-steals-your-attention/ |accessdate=1 June 2018 |publisher=Scientific American |date=November 22, 2014}}{{cite web |last1=Corwin |first1=William |title=Truth in the Visual Arts Skepticism in the Work of Ellen K. Levy and Patricia Olynyk |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2016/04/artseen/truth-in-the-visual-arts |website=brooklynrail.org/ |date=6 April 2016 |publisher=The Brooklyn Rail |accessdate=9 August 2018}} in exhibitions involving the environment such as Weather Report and Climate Change, (2004) curated by Lucy Lippard, and Face Off (2004), curated by Ronald Feldman;{{cite news |last1=Paglia |first1=Michael |title=Weather Report: Art and Climate Change |url=https://www.westword.com/arts/weather-report-art-and-climate-change-5096453 |accessdate=8 January 2019 |publisher=Westword |date=November 29, 2007}}{{cite news |last1=Cotter |first1=Holland |title=Art In Review; 'Face Off' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/26/arts/art-in-review-face-off.html |accessdate=8 January 2019 |work=New York Times |date=November 26, 2004}} and a two-person exhibition based on data from the magazine Skeptical Inquirer;{{cite web |last1=G'Sell |first1=Eileen |title=Sumptuous Skeptics: Ellen K. Levy and Patricia Olynyk Stage Creative Inquisition |url=https://artefuse.com/2016/03/18/sumptuous-skeptics-ellen-k-levy-and-patricia-olynyk-stage-creative-inquisition-124450/ |website=artefuse.com |publisher=Arte Fuse |accessdate=1 June 2018 |archive-date=15 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815025916/https://artefuse.com/2016/03/18/sumptuous-skeptics-ellen-k-levy-and-patricia-olynyk-stage-creative-inquisition-124450/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last1=Dobler |first1=Russ |title=Two Artists Combine Art, Science, and Skepticism |url=https://www.csicop.org/si/show/two_artists_combine_art_science_and_skepticism |accessdate=16 January 2019 |volume=40|number=4|date=July–August 2016|publisher=Center for Inquiry }} and in her New York Public Library site-specific exhibition Meme Machines, using mixed media to visualize cultural evolution and ways of creating and transmitting knowledge,{{cite web |title=Ellen K. Levy, Meme Machines, Art Wall on Third Exhibition Series |url=https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/ellen-levy-meme-machines-art-wall-third-exhibition-series |website=nypl.org |publisher=The New York Public Library |accessdate=19 July 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Beckenstein |first1=Joyce |title=Neural Networks: Ellen K. Levy on her "Meme Machines" and the thinking behind them |url=http://www.artcritical.com/2017/05/30/joyce-beckenstein-with-ellen-k-levy/ |website=artcritical.com |date=30 May 2017 |publisher=artcritical, LLC |accessdate=8 September 2018}} which was also the subject of an Art Talk interview with novelist Siri Hustvedt.{{cite web |title=Art Talks, Meme Machines, Siri Hustvedt, Ellen K. Levy, An Artist Dialogue Series Event |url=https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2017/05/10/meme-machines-siri-hustvedt-ellen-k-levy-artist-dialogue-series-event |website=nypl.org |publisher=The New York Public Library |accessdate=19 July 2018}}

Former chair of Leonardo/ISAST's LEAF (Leonardo Education and Art Forum) initiative,{{cite journal |title=Leonardo Education and Art Forum Chair Ellen K. Levy |journal=Leonardo |date=2010 |volume=43 |issue=5 |page=518 |doi=10.1162/LEON_a_00069 |s2cid=57558517 }} Levy co-directs, with Patricia Olynyk, the New York City-based Leonardo Art and Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER), part of Leonardo/ISAST's international program of evening gatherings that brings artists and scientists together for informal presentations and conversations.{{cite web |title=LASER Talks in New York City |url=https://www.leonardo.info/civicrm/event/info?id=39 |website=leonardo.info |publisher=Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST) |accessdate=1 June 2018}}{{cite web |title=Ellen Levy |url=https://creativedisturbance.org/people/ellen-levy/ |website=creativedisturbance.org |publisher=Creative Disturbance, The University of Texas at Dallas |accessdate=10 August 2018}} A twice invited participant to The Watermill Center's Art & Consciousness Workshop,{{cite web |title=The Annual Art and Science Insights into Consciousness Workshop |url=https://www.watermillcenter.org/the-annual-art-and-science-insights-into-consciousness-workshop/ |website=watermillcenter.org |publisher=The Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation |accessdate=10 August 2018}} she was President of the College Art Association from 2004 to 2006,{{cite web |title=About Presidents of the Board of Directors |url=http://www.collegeart.org/about/board-of-directors/presidents |website=collegeart.org |publisher=College Art Association |accessdate=14 August 2018}} Special Advisor on the Arts and Sciences at the [https://www.idsva.edu/ Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts](IDSVA) from 2012 to 2017, and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Arts and Sciences at Skidmore College in 1999, a position funded by the Henry Luce Foundation,{{cite book |title=Who's Who in Research : Visual Arts. |date=May 2013 |publisher=Intellect Books |location=Bristol, UK; Wilmington, NC |isbn= 9781841504957 |page=179 |url= https://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/books/view-Book,id=4779/|accessdate=10 October 2018}} and named one of the 66 Brilliant Women in Creative Technology.{{cite news |title=66 Brilliant Women in Creative Technology |url=https://www.prlog.org/12636771-66-brilliant-women-in-creative-technology.html |accessdate=11 June 2019 |agency=PRLog Press Release Logo Press Release Distribution |publisher=Creative Tech Week |date=April 30, 2017}}

File:Don't_Cry_in_Space,_Ellen_Levy,_2020.jpg

Levy has published in many books and journals including Leonardo/ISAST's journal Leonardo. In 1996 she was guest editor of Art Journal's Contemporary Art and the Genetic Code, the first widely distributed, in-depth academic publication about contemporary artistic responses to genetics, genomics, which included articles by Stephen J. Gould, Roald Hoffmann, Robert Root-Bernstein, Martin Kemp, and Dorothy Nelkin, and was cited in Cambridge University Press's Science in Context, Writing Modern Art and Science – An Overview.{{cite journal |last1=Henderson |first1=Linda |title=Science in Context (). CopyrightC©DOI: 10.1017/S0269889704000225Printed in the United KingdomEditor's Introduction: I. Writing Modern Art and Science – An Overview; II. Cubism, Futurism, and Ether Physics in the Early Twentieth Century |journal=Science in Context |date=January 13, 2005 |volume=4 |issue=17 |page=432 |doi=10.1017/S0269889704000225 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Levy |first1=Ellen |title=Contemporary Art and the Genetic Code |journal=Art Journal |date=Spring 1996 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=7–16, 20–24 |doi=10.1080/00043249.1996.10791734 |jstor=777802}} Her article Contemporary Art and the Genetic Code: New Models and Methods of Representation,{{cite journal |last1=Levy, Ellen K. “Contemporary Art and the Genetic Code: New Models and Methods of Representation.” |title=Contemporary Art and the Genetic Code: New Models and Methods of Representation |journal=Art Journal |date=Spring 1996 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=20–24 |doi=10.1080/00043249.1996.10791734 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcaj20/55/1?nav=tocList& |access-date=12 March 2021}} was cited in Stephen Wilson's 2003's Information Arts, Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology,{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Stephen |title=Information Arts, Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology |year=2002 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=9780262232098 |page=95 |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/information-arts |access-date=12 March 2021}} an introduction to the work and ideas of "a who's who of international scenemakers," artists who use and influence science and technology; and in 2016, with her essay Art Enters the Biotechnology Debate: Questions of Ethics,{{cite book |last1=King |first1=Elaine A. |last2=Levin |first2=Gail |title=Ethics and the Visual Arts. Edited by Elaine A. King and Gail Levin |date=September 1, 2006 |publisher=Simon and Schuster, Allworth |location=New York |isbn=9781581154580 |pages=199–216 |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Ethics-and-the-Visual-Arts/Elaine-A-King/9781581154580 |access-date=12 March 2021}} was listed in Oxford University Press's authoritative guide to the current scholarship on Science and Contemporary Art.{{cite web |last1=Albu |first1=Cristina |title=Science and Contemporary Art |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199920105/obo-9780199920105-0081.xml?rskey=rRk1N2&result=1&q=Science+and+Contemporary+Art#obo-9780199920105-0081-bibItemGroup-0122 |website=oxfordbibliographies.com |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=12 March 2021}} Barbara Larson and Ellen Levy are co-editors of the Science and the Arts Since 1750 six title book series published by Routledge.{{cite web |title=Science and the Arts since 1750 |url=https://www.routledge.com/Science-and-the-Arts-since-1750/book-series/ASHSER4039 |website=routledge.com |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |access-date=18 August 2021}}

• [https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/darcy-wentworth-thompsons-generative-influences-in-art-design-and-architecture-9781350191136 D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's Generative Influences in Art, Design, and Architecture From Forces to Forms], Eds. Ellen K. Levy, Charissa N. Terranova; Bloomsbury Visual Arts, London; March 2021, {{ISBN|9781350191136}}
• [https://www.routledge.com/Science-and-the-Arts-since-1750/book-series/ASHSER4039 Book Series: Science and the Arts since 1750], Eds., Barbara Larson, Ellen K. Levy; 2017 - 2021, Routledge Press, US and UK.
• "Enraptured: Attention and Art," Perception and Agency in Shared Spaces of Contemporary Art, Eds., C.Albu and D. Schuld; 171-183, 2017, Routledge Press, US and UK.
• "Classifying Kubler: Between the Complexity of Science and Art," Im Maschenwerk der Kunstgeschichte, Eds., S. Maupeu, K. Schankweiler, S. Stallschus; 225-245, Kulturverlag Kadmos, Berlin, 2014.
• "Sleuthing the Mind," Leonardo, 47 ( 5), 427-435, 2014 doi:10.1162/LEON a 00864
• "Contemporary Art and the Aesthetics of Natural Selection," Darwin and Theories of Aesthetics and Cultural History, Eds., Barbara Larson and Sabine Flach, Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Press, 145-165, 2013
• "Neuroscience and the Arts Today," in PAJ, 35 (3), 8-23, 2013, doi:10.1162/PAJJ-a-00157
• "Bioart and Nanoart in a Museum Context: Terms of Engagement," Ed., J. Marstine; The Routledge Companion to Museum Ethics: Redefining Ethics for the Twenty-First Century Museum, 445-464, 2011, Routledge Press, US and UK.
• "Defining Life: Artists Challenge Conventional Classifications," Eds., M. Lovejoy, C. Paul, V. Vesna; Context Providers, 275-299, 2011, Intellect Press, Bristol and University of Chicago Press, Chicago, {{ISBN|9781841503080}}
• "Cultural Evolution," Ed., Leonardo Journal, 43 (5), 420, 2010, doi:10.1162/LEON e 00032
• "Art Enters the Biotechnology Debate: Questions of Ethics," Eds., G. Levin, E. King; Ethics and the Visual Arts, Ch. 16, 199-216, Allworth Press, New York, 2006, {{ISBN|9781581158229}}
• "Complexity" with Philip Galanter and Manuel A. Báez, Leonardo, volume 36, issue 4, pp. 259–267, 2003 doi:10.1162/002409403322258583
• "The Genome and Art: Finding Potential in Unknown Places," Leonardo, 34 (2), 2014, 172-175. 2001, doi:10.1162/002409401750184762
• "Contemporary Art and the Genetic Code," Art Journal, Levy, E., Ed. with Sichel, B., 55 (1) Spring Issue 1996, College Art Association, New York, doi:10.1080/00043249.1996.10791734
• "Monkey in the Middle: PreDarwinian Evolutionary Thought and Artistic Creation," Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Levy, E., Levy, D., & Goldberg, M (1986), 3 (1): 95-106, 1986. doi:10.1353/pbm.1986.0092

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