Richard Pell
Artist, activist and researcher
An artist, activist and researcher, Pell (1982) is the founder and director of the Center for PostNatural History. Its mission is to fill a gap that a natural museum would not cover, as it is an organisation dedicated to collecting and exhibiting lifeforms that have been intentionally and heritably altered through domestication, selective breeding, tissue culture or genetic engineering. ‘PostNatural History’ refers to that moment when culture intervenes in nature, as a result of which the organism in question is not just telling a story about evolution or its habitat, but also about humans.
The centre has a permanent museum in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania,) and produces travelling exhibitions that have appeared in science and art museums throughout Europe and the United States.
Pell is a National Academy of Science Kavli Fellow and was awarded the 2016 Pittsburgh Artist of the Year prize. He is currently an associate professor of art at Carnegie Mellon University.
Participates in the exhibition “Science Friction” with the photography FVB + C57B6, 2021, collection of Center of PostNatural History.
Update: 21 May 2021