Alex Grey

124
Alex Grey bigraphy, stories - Design

Alex Grey : biography

November 29, 1953 –

Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953) is an American artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic art (or visionary art) that is sometimes associated with the New Age movement. Grey is a Vajrayana practitioner. His body of work spans a variety of forms including performance art, process art, installation art, sculpture, visionary art, and painting. Grey is a member of the Integral Institute. He is also on the board of advisors for the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, and is the Chair of Wisdom University’s Sacred Art Department. He and his wife Allyson Grey are the co-founders of The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, CoSM, a non-profit church supporting Visionary Culture in Wappinger, New York.

Publications

The large format art book, Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey published by Inner Traditions in 1990, is still in print and has been translated into five languages and sold over 150 thousand copies. This book of paintings takes the viewer on a graphic journey through the physical, and spiritual anatomy of the self. From anatomically correct rendering of the body systems, Grey moves to the spiritual/energetic systems with such images as "Universal Mind Lattice," envisioning the sacred and esoteric symbolism of the body and the forces that define its living field of energy. Includes essays on the significance of Grey’s work by Ken Wilber, the eminent transpersonal psychologist, and by the noted New York art critic, Carlo McCormick. Grey’s philosophical text, The Mission of Art, published by Shambhala in 1998, traces the evolution of human consciousness through art history, explores the role of an artist’s intention and conscience, and reflects on the creative process as a spiritual path.

Transfigurations is Alex’s second large-format monograph from Inner Traditions, containing over 300 color and black & white images of his work. Transfigurations explores Grey’s well known portrayals of light bodies, performance works, relationship with his wife, Allyson Grey, and their quest to build a Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. Sounds True has released The Visionary Artist, a CD of Grey’s reflections on art as a spiritual practice. Grey co-edited the book, Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics (Chronicle Books, 2002). In 2004 Grey’s Visions, a boxed set contains a portfolio of new works along with Sacred Mirrors and Transfigurations, his collected works. Net of Being, released by Inner Traditions in 2012 explores how Alex Grey’s visionary art is evolving the cultural body through icons of interconnectedness and a new symbology of the Networked Self. Net of Being contains spectacular photos of Grey’s collaboration with the cult band TOOL plus his worldwide live-painting performances, and offers Grey’s reflections on how art evolves consciousness.

Publications

  • 1990 – Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey (Alex Grey) (Inner Traditions – Bear & Company) ISBN 0-89281-314-8
  • 1998 – The Mission of Art (Alex Grey) (Shambhala Publications Inc.) ISBN 978-1570623967
  • 2001 – Transfigurations (Alex Grey) (Inner Traditions – Bear & Company) ISBN 0-89281-851-4
  • 2001 – The Mission of Art (Alex Grey) paperback edition of (Shambhala Publications Inc.) ISBN 1-57062-545-X
  • 2006 – True Visions (Erik Davis and Pablo Echaurren) (Betty Books) ISBN 88-902372-0-1
  • 2007 – Metamorphosis: 50 Contemporary Surreal, Fantastic and Visionary Artists (beinArt) ISBN 978-0-9803231-0-8
  • 2007 – CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (Alex Grey & Allyson Grey) (CoSM Press) ISBN 978-160402-121-9
  • 2008 – Art Psalms (Alex Grey) (North Atlantic Books) ISBN 978-1-55643-756-4
  • 2012 – Net of Being (Alex Grey & Allyson Grey) (Inner Traditions – Bear & Company) ISBN 978-1594773846

Philosophy

Grey has also made his own contribution to the philosophy of art in his book The Mission of Art (1998). Therein, he promotes the possibility of the mystical potential of art: he argues that the process of artistic creation can (and should) play a role in the enlightenment of the artist. For him, the process of artistic creation holds the potential of transcending the limitations of the mind and more fully expressing the divine spirit. He also believes that art can induce within the viewer an elevated state wherein spiritual states of being are attained.