Bevil Conway
Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Institutes of Health
What is beauty?
Monday, May 18, 2026, 3:00 – 4:00 pm, Offsite
What is beauty and why does it move us? This lecture takes up one of philosophy’s oldest puzzles drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience and evolutionary biology to challenge popular reductive views of beauty as a fitness signal. I’ll argue instead that beauty is a cognitive achievement, made possible by the dramatically larger brain and cognitive potential of humans compared to other primates. Beauty, it turns out, is not a luxury or a distraction: it is the emotion the human mind feels when it is working at its very best.
About our speaker
Bevil Conway is a neuroscientist and visual artist whose work often uses color as a playground to understand how mind and brain work. He has held positions at Wellesley College, MIT, and Harvard, where he was elected a Junior Fellow. His lab studies how the brain interprets information at the center of gaze, how learning transforms vision into concepts, and how these processes compare across cultures and species. He is a frequent commentator in outlets including the New York Times, NPR, and WIRED, and gained his 15 minutes of fame for explaining the viral phenomenon #TheDress. His artwork explores the limits of visualization, the nature of representation, and ideas of process and beauty, working across media from glass-and-silk to etching and watercolor. His work is in the Boston Public Library and the Fogg Art Museum Rental Collection. He is the author of two forthcoming books: Color Coded (W. W. Norton, 2027) and The Creative Brain, co-authored with Alexander Rehding (Princeton University Press, 2027).
About the VSS Public Lecture
The annual public lecture represents the mission and commitment of the Vision Sciences Society to promote progress in understanding vision and its relation to cognition, action and the brain. As scientists we are obliged to communicate the results of our work, not only to our professional colleagues, but also to the broader public. This lecture is part of our effort to give back to the community that supports us.
Attending the VSS Public Lecture
Admission to the Public Lecture is free. Registration is required, link coming soon. The lecture will be held on Monday, May 18 at 3:00 pm at the Dalí Museum. Located at One Dalí Blvd., St. Petersburg, 33701.
The Dalí Museum is an approximately ten-mile drive from the TradeWinds Island Grand Resort. On-site parking is available for $10 on a first-come, first-served basis. There are also various surface lots, city parking garages and street parking as well as public transportation. Visit the museum website for more information.