Dactyl Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization in New York City founded by New York-based artist Neil Grayson and novelist/philosopher of science V.N. Alexander.

History

Founded in 1997 in the "evening of the postmodern day," Dactyl Foundation supports an aesthetic that is informed by science, history, and philosophy. Dactyl hosts visual art exhibitions, readings, screenings, and performances, which are supplemented with research, conferences and lectures, "bringing the sciences back into the arts." Dactyl Review is a 2.0 literary fiction review site created for and by the literary fiction community and offers a $1,000 annual prize for a novel or collection of short stories.

Notable projects

*1998

Stephen Jay Gould Stephen Jay Gould ( ; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American Paleontology, paleontologist, Evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, and History of science, historian of science. He was one of the most influential and widely re ...

, Lecture hosted by ''

The Antioch Review ''The Antioch Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1941 at Antioch College in Ohio. The magazine was published on a quarterly basis. One of the oldest continuously published literary magazines in the United States prior to it ...

''. *1998 "One Painting & Drawings" with artist Judy Glantzman. *2000 "Chaos in Literature, Science and Art" with James P. Crutchfield. *2001 "Paintings & Drawings" with artist Judy Glantzman. *2001 "History, Memory, Trauma," Lecture by Dominick LaCapra, recipient of the Dactyl award for aesthetic theory, September 28, 2001. *2002 "Phenomena+Existence No. 1" with artist Yelena Yemchuk. *2003 "Paintings, Monoprints & Drawings" with artist Judy Glantzman. *2005 Poetics-Cognitive Science Colloquy with speakers

John Ashbery John Lawrence Ashbery (July 28, 1927 – September 3, 2017) was an American poet and art critic. Ashbery is considered the most influential American poet of his time. Oxford University literary critic John Bayley wrote that Ashbery "sounded, in ...

, Angus Fletcher, Walter J. Freeman, Rebecca Goldstein and

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychology, cognitive psychologist, psycholinguistics, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psycholo ...

. * 2004 "Dreamreaders" with artist Yelena Yemchuk. *2006

Fredo Viola Fredo Viola is an American singer/songwriter and multi-media artist. He was born in London, England, but has resided in the United States for most of his life. He lives in Woodstock, N.Y. He graduated from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, but has ...

, debut live performance. *2006 Society for Science, Literature and the Arts 20th Annual Conference, co-hosted with the

Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal and to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by ...

with speakers

Lynn Margulis Lynn Margulis (born Lynn Petra Alexander; March 5, 1938 – November 22, 2011) was an American evolutionary biologist, and was the primary modern proponent for the significance of symbiogenesis, symbiosis in evolution. In particular, Margulis tr ...

, Dorion Sagan,

Jesper Hoffmeyer Jesper Hoffmeyer (21 February 1942 – 25 September 2019) was a professor at the University of Copenhagen Institute of Biology, and a leading figure in the emerging field of biosemiotics. He was the president of the International Society for Biose ...

, Donald Favareau, Eric Schneider, and

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysics, astrophysicist, author, and science communication, science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia Univ ...

. *2007 "FTW" with artist Sage Vaughn *2007 "Closed Casket," with street artist Neck Face. *2008 "Dialogues," art exhibition featuring

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, an ...

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

and other classic, Modern and contemporary masters, curated by Jan Krugier. This was Krugier's last exhibition.Kennedy, Randy. "Jan Krugier, Dealer in Modern Art, Dies at 80," New York Times. November 20, 2008

/ref> *2009 "Thirty-Year Retrospective" with artist Judy Glantzman. *2009 Helena Christensen, United Nations, photography exhibition * 2010 Norman Lock's ''ShadowPlay'' receives Dactyl Foundation Literary Award. *2010 photography by Helena Christensen for the Chernobyl Children's Project International *2011 11th annual Gathering in Biosemiotics at Rockefeller University *2011 David Schmahmann's ''The Double Life of Alfred Buber'' receives Dactyl Foundation Literary Award *2013 Lindsay Hill's Sea of Hooks receives Dactyl Foundation Literary Award *2016 Millbrook Literary Festival, Millbrook, NY

References

External links

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