Phillip Wittke!

FA 1080 (10am)!
Wittke!
ArtistPhillip
Paper!
1080 (10am)!
Due: FA
9/15/2016!
Artist Paper!

Alex Grey:!

Due: 9/15/2016!
Phillip Wittke!

!
!

FA 1080 (10am)!

Alex Grey:!
A Visionary Artist!

Artist Paper!

A Visionary Artist!

Alex Grey depicts many different aspects of life, death, spirituality, con-

Due: 9/15/2016!

sciousness, and unconsciousness in his paintings,

Alex Grey:!sculptures, and performances. He
!

Alex Grey depicts many different aspects of life, death, spirituality, con-

A Visionary
Artist!
describes his work as visionary art. In an
interview,
Alex Grey states that the definition

sciousness, and unconsciousness in his paintings, sculptures, and performances. He

of Visionary
Art is, the creative expression of glimpses into the sacred unconsciousdescribes his work as visionary art. In an interview, Alex Grey states that the definition
!

Alex Grey depicts many different aspects of life, death, spirituality, con-

nessthe
mystical
of spiritual
illumination,
unity,
andunconsciouslove.
(Grey,
of Visionary
Art experience
is, the
creative
expression
of glimpses
intowisdom,
theperformances.
sacred
sciousness,
and unconsciousness
in his paintings,
sculptures,
and
He
describes
work
as visionary
art.
In an
interview,
Alex
Grey
states thatand
the
definition
Alex)nessthe
The best
way I his
can
describe
hisspiritual
work
isillumination,
as
a mixture
of wisdom,
anatomy
textbook
illustramystical
experience
of
unity,
love. (Grey,
of Visionary Art is, the creative expression of glimpses into the sacred unconscious-

TheVedic
best way
I can describe
as !a mixtions,Alex)
ancient
architecture,
andhis
an work
acid is
trip.

nessthe mystical experience of spiritual illumination, unity, wisdom, and love. (Grey,

ture
of anatomy
textbook
illustrations,29th,
ancient
Vedic
Born
a Sagittarius
on November
1953,

Alex) The best way I can describe his work is as a mix-

and art
an acid
! age. He would also
Grey architecture,
began creating
attextbook
antrip.
early
ture of anatomy
illustrations,
ancient Vedic
Born
a Sagittarius
29th, 1953,
architecture,
and an on
acidNovember
trip. !

collect dead insects and animals from his neighborhood

Born a Sagittarius
November
29th,
1953,
Grey began creating
art at an on
early
age and
was
en-

then bury them in his backyard. Later, Grey worked at

Grey began creating art at an early age and was en-

couraged by his father, who was a graphic designer. As

the Harvard Medical

School
in the
department
couraged by
his father,
who anatomy
was a graphic
designer. As
a child he would collect dead insects and animals from

a child he would collect dead insects and animals from

preparing cadavers
for dissection. (alexgrey.com) His

his neighborhood
then bury them in his backyard. Lathis neighborhood then bury them in his backyard. Lat-

interest of spirituality and biology is very much reflected

er, Grey er,
worked
at theatHarvard
Medical
School
Grey worked
the Harvard
Medical
School

in his work. Alex

attended
thepreparing
Columbus
College
in theGrey
anatomy
department
cadavers
in the anatomy department preparing cadavers

for dissection.
Hisuntil
interest
of
of Artfor
and
Design
in
early(alexgrey.com)
his twenties
he
dissection.
(alexgrey.com)
His interest
of dropped

*1. *1.
Psychic
Energy
System,
Chapel ofChapel
Sacred Mirrors,
Psychic
Energy
System,
of Sacred
!

2004-2009, New York City (alexgrey.com)

Mirrors,

2004-2009, New York City (alexgrey.com)

out and began painting billboards for an advertising company. A few years later Grey
moved to Massachusetts to study and work as a studio assistant in the Museum of Fine
Arts in Boston. There, in 1975, Grey met his life-long partner Allyson and started experimenting with psychedelic drugs. Grey then began working in the Harvard department of
Mind/Body Medicine as a technician helping with scientific experiments that investigated
subtle healing energies. Using his experiences with anatomy and the influences of his
studies, Grey created 21 paintings called the Sacred Mirrors. After seeing these paintings, doctors at Harvard hired Grey as a medical illustrator. (alexgrey.com)!

*2.CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, 2004-2009, New York City (alexgrey.com)!

In 1999 Alex Grey held an art exhibition where he was approached by Adam
Jones, the lead singer, and visual creative director of the band Tool. Adam Jones
showed grey a concept for the cover of their album Lateralus. Grey then designed the
whole cd insert for the album and collaborated on several other projects with the band.
(Duwe) I was first introduced to Alex Greys art from another talented artist who was
also a major influence in my own art, another Sagittarius and a good friend of mine
named Ian. Alex Grey has several paintings and drawings that I have always liked, and I
remember first seeing his work on the Tool album 10,000 Days. !
I was not very familiar with most of the other art he has
done and didn't realize how many elements were similar in my
art and his. That is until I started looking for an artist to be the

subject of this paper, albeit his is indefinitely more professionally done. After looking
over many artists work I decided to go with Alex Grey because he has an interesting
outlook on art and life in general. Another reason is that I have learned about Van
Gogh, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and many of the great classical artists of the past, (regardless of how much I remember,) so I wanted to learn about a famous, modern, visual
artist If any existed. I began to search the internet when I came across one of Greys
pictures, and it jumped out at me. Honestly, that is likely the main reason why I decided
to learn more about this artist, whos work has been in the back of my mind for years. !
I enjoy Alex Greys Artwork because I feel like I have a similar subject matter in
mine and his work is very interesting to me. Maybe it is because he has influenced me much more than I know or
perhaps it is that we were both born under the sign of
Sagittarius but whatever the reason, I have noticed similarities in his art and mine. Furthermore, after learning more
about his philosophies and how he feels about art, I have
found that we both share some views about that as well,
despite the fact that he may be a bit more radical than I.
*3. Vision Taking Form 1997,
charcoal & ink on paper, 8 x 12

Alex Greys art is also very different than mine, which is

something that I like also. I would call him more of a

realist, at least compared to me. His work includes a lot of anatomically correct, x-ray
type, depictions of the human body. While I cannot draw the human form very well at all,
so I tend to create more abstract designs. !

Alex Greys artwork is very captivating to me. I love that he tries to depict

energy systems, emotions, and spiritual stages of life. His paintings make me feel the
message he is portraying and they do it in a way that is straight forward, although I feel
like some of his work can be a little repetitious, I really enjoy looking at them. For this
reason, Alex Grey has been a big influence in my artwork and has already been an inspiration for my final project in this class. I have a theory that true artists and great
thinkers started dying off sometime ago, and Alex Grey, is one of few who have
emerged from the ashes.!

!
!

*4. Skull Fetus 1979, ink on paper, 8 x 8 in.

!
!

!
!
Works Cited:!
!
!
!
!
!

alexgrey.com. Bio. alexgrey.com. (author not found). web. 9/10/2016!

!
http://alexgrey.com/bio/!

!
!

Grey, Alex. Interview Athens. alexgrey.com. (author/ interviewer not found). !

!
web. 9/10/2016!
!
http://alexgrey.com/press-media/interviews/interview-athens/!

!
!

alexgrey.com. Bio. alexgrey.com. (author not found). web. 9/10/2016!

!
http://alexgrey.com/bio/!

!
!
!
!

!
!

Duwe, Morena. Exclusive Interview with Alex Grey-part 1. The Huffington Post !
!
4/2015. web. 9/12/2016!
!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/morena-duwe/exclusive-interview-with!
!
_b_6928896.html! !
!

!
!
!
!

IMAGES:!
*1. Grey, Alex. Reflecting on the Sacred Mirrors. alexgrey.com. web. 9/13/2016!
!
http://alexgrey.com/art/paintings/sacred-mirrors/sacred-mirrors-nyc/!
*2. Grey, Alex. Sacred Mirrors Installation View. alexgrey.com. web. 9/13/2016!
!
http://alexgrey.com/art/paintings/sacred-mirrors/360-view-2/!
*3. Grey, Alex. Vision Taking Form. alexgrey.com. web. 9/13/2016!
!
http://alexgrey.com/art/the-mission-of-art/visionary-works/vision-taking-!
!
form/!
*4. Grey Alex. Skull Fetus. alexgrey.com. web. 9/13/2016!
!
http://alexgrey.com/art/the-mission-of-art/meditations-on-mortality/skull-fe!
!
tus/