"Art Psalms" is a collection of Alex Grey's artwork, poetry, and inspiring declarations that fuse imagination, creativity, and spirituality. By replicating the style and tone of a holy text, Grey's poetry conveys the idea of art as a sacred, spiritual practice. Many of these writings have been shared as sermons at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (COSM) in New York City, a contemporary sacred space founded by Alex Grey and his wife Allyson.Included in this compilation is "Soul Marriage" a pledge that requests from the reader a commitment to personal and world transformation; "Guidance for Servants of God" that outlines the lifestyle and view of a sacred path; "The Plan", which draws a connection between universal creation and our own creations in daily life; and "Polar Unity" which seeks to distil the operations of the cosmos into basic principles, including the concept of 'cellular memory'. Grey also includes drawing exercises of sacred geometry that allow for contemplative drawing practices that connect the reader with the transformative creative process.
Author Biography:
Artist and author Alex Grey is best known for his visionary paintings that integrate the anatomical body with the transcendental light of the soul. His work brings together the paths of science, creativity, and spirituality. Grey's paintings, sculpture, and performances have been honored exhibitions in Sao Paulo Biennial, the Grand Palais in Paris, Venice, and at the American Visionary Art Museum, the New Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. Tool, Beastie Boys, Nirvana, SCI, and David Byrne have featured Grey's work as album art. "WorldSpirit," a spoken word piece, drew over a thousand people when performed in Oakland, California, and is available as both a CD and DVD. Grey's artworks are chronicled in the monographs, Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey (published in six languages), Transfigurations, and in his pictorial philosophical text, The Mission of Art. The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, CoSM, a long-term exhibition of fifty works of Grey's transformative art, was co-founded by Allyson and Alex Grey in 2004 in New York City. In 2007 the Greys co-authored CoSM, a photographic book tour of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. It is at CoSM that Grey has shared many of the poems collected now in Art Psalms. Alex lives in New York City with his wife, the painter Allyson Grey, and their daughter, the actress Zena Grey.