Customer Reviews

The Mission of Art

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My whole being shouts "yes!" as I join the brilliant philosopher Ken Wilber, (who wrote the Foreword) in proclaiming that visionary artist Alex Grey is perhaps the most soul-filled, divinely inspired artist alive today.

I urge anyone who loves and appreciates art, especially art students, to make this book both a part of your "way of seeing," and "being in," the world.

In The Mission of Art, Grey gives us a glimpse of his expanded transcendent view of reality, which includes dimensions seen and unseen. His sublime vision embraces the polarities of good and evil, beauty and horror, but ultimately transcends the limitations of both. His words and art bring us to a hauntingly familiar archetypal place within which is ultimately beyond these dualities. The ability to do this, as he with eloquent, gentle wisdom puts forth, is itself the "highest" of the many functions of art. Grey's dozens of illustrations, reminiscent of Blake but for me more transformative, fill the book with a noumenal force which several times brought me to poignant tears of divine remembrance. What makes Grey's work so powerfully authentic is that it is a product of his own direct experience of transpersonal states of consciousness. The highest function of the artist, he submits, is to capture the essence of this universal transcendent experience, and through art, share it as gifts to humanity. Grey not only shares these archetypal, imaginal realms with us but goes further. Bespeaking his spiritual maturity, Grey points to the necessity of going BEYOND all form in our inward journey that we will all one day take back our common Formless Source.

Grey's art, and this book, itself fulfills the highest function of art by showing us what is on the other side of the inner veil, and potentially ushering us to its threshold. -Eliot Jay Rosen, author of Experiencing the Soul

As one who finds Alex Grey's works of art imbued with sacred truths I am delighted that he comes forward to share his insights in The Mission of Art. In this work Grey speaks from experience on mystical states and how they inform the creative process. He includes choice gleanings from various wisdom traditions and mystical literature that map, describe and otherwise illuminate the nature of the transcendental frontier. We can regard visionary artists as emissaries between the spirit and material worlds, who employ their craft to translate the ineffable truths encountered beyond the veil. And the art derived from such a vantage point speaks to the deepest and highest dimensions of our being. It nourishes the seeds of potential and advances the evolution of consciousness. As an artist, Grey believes it a moral imperative to remain true to the order of things, thus it is a moral offense to create art that would thwart the healthful harmonious unfolding of this order. In setting forth art's moral dimension Grey is sure to raise the ire of a vast contingent of the art world who contend that art is amoral. I eagerly await their rebuttals. Any discussion from this day forward must now reckon with The Mission of Art; as it shall be sited among the classics of the philosophy of art. ~Carol Price, author of Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush

Since the fin-de-siecle, artists have had a reputation for egoism and perfidy that has been glamorized and often excused for their supposed insight into society. For Grey, merely being an artist is not an excuse to act without regard for human beings in the supposed pursuit of beauty. He details how, initially, his art came from his own dark impulses, self-loathing, and power trips which would have led him to ruin--with the possibility of being remembered in a celebratory light anyway. Through changes in attitude, the love of his muse then colleague then wife Allyson, and respectful experiences with ethnobotanicals, he underwent a profound transformation whose noble fruits are seen in his art. He details these aspects of his life and his thoughts on art as a spiritual practice with practical advice on developing the consciousness that channels energies both dark and light into extraordinary works that benefit all sentient beings. It should be read alongside his portfolio TRANSFIGURATIONS as the two illustrate this process he underwent both visually and in textual form. The drawings in The Mission of Art are just as incredible as any of his spectacular paintings, especially the treatment of Beethoven in the style of a Tibetan thangka and his mindmaps that are throughout the pages. I came out of this with a profound sense of vindication for my own artistic endeavors and I hope it serves the same for any who wonder whether their art can mean something.

Soul Expression Can Be Visionary Artistry
Imagine, for a moment, the Creative Forces. How do you envision the Spirit of Life, as it expresses itself within you? When I suggest this meditation in my classes, people usually enjoy it. When I suggest to pick up a colored crayon or two and help the Creative Spirit express itself on paper, this second instruction creates more anxiety than pleasure. I hear the protest, "But I can't draw what I envisioned!" I might reply, "Just allow yourself to enjoy the process and don't be worrying so much about how you think it should look. Let it be easy, let the vision guide the drawing, let it do what it wants with itself."
After we have made our drawings, people share a little of what was experienced during the meditation and we get to see how it came out on paper. The drawings are so different, yet group members usually recognize the mark of the Creative Spirit in them. Their sheets of paper contain precious revelations. People remark favorably, of course, about those that are more "artistic." Some may denigrate their own work when comparing it with those that win the group's "artistic" award. I try to draw their attention elsewhere. It's not about being "artistic," but about honoring one's experience as best one can.
Alex Grey, author of The Mission of Art (Shambhala), writes that the purpose of making art should not be trivialized into a career path toward fame and fortune. The essential purpose of making art, he reminds us, is to honor Spirit, to make it visible, to make it real in this world. If we create also for the purpose that it might further awaken Spirit in others, then making art becomes a spiritual mission as well. If sufficient talent, dedication and hard work are present in the mix, then it can also be a profession. He calls the professional artist to a higher mission, explaining how to invite Spirit into the work. If the artist commits to bringing Spirit into the work, he claims, Spirit will collaborate with the artist.
Creating is an essential part of the soul's activity and thus belongs to everyone as their natural birthright. So he aims his book also at the rest of us, just as he does his painting. He writes, "When people are profoundly moved by art, they recall from their depths their own intuition of spiritual truth." Like Edgar Cayce, he would have us all involved in some sort of creative activity and wants us to appreciate the spiritual importance of doing so.
Even if you do not recognize the name of Alex Grey, very likely you have seen a reproduction of one of his visionary paintings. Best known are his stunning, anatomically correct renditions of a person with transparent skin, revealing the inner body as well as the spiritual energies flowing through that body. In his painting of the kissing couple, for example, you can see the spirit of the man and woman intertwine. His paintings show beautifully the truth of Spirit's activity in this world.
The fact that his stuff is extraordinarily good--dazzlingly good--doesn't take away from the fact that he is sincere when he writes that each of us is an artist. He urges us to recognize that our soul yearns to find outward expression in creative acts. Echoing the understanding of Edgar Cayce, he writes, "Seeing with the eye of the heart, the mystic eye, is seeing with the soul." Responding to the creative itch, taking the time to express it, in poetry, in cooking, in painting, honors the source. Allowing the imagination to become involved in our activities invites the soul's involvement in what we do.
I explain to my students that our doodling exercise is something of a sacred ritual. I note that we attuned ourselves to a very special inner reality, and then expressed it outwardly as honestly as we could. In other words, we gave testimony to our own experience of Spirit. By sharing our drawings, our spiritual intuitions made visible, we treated ourselves to witnessing several reflections of Spirit, expanding and sharpening our sensitivity to its qualities.
But the exercise was not without struggle. It took something akin to what Grey calls "egocide." We had to let go of notions of what the drawing "should" look like, and allow the expression of something greater than our own willful abilities." It requires turning our focus away from the ego's perceived "artistic" outcome and focus instead upon the authenticity of having honored our experience. In the back of my mind is one of my favorite ideas from the Cayce material, that the one of highest service we can give to one another is to share our experience of the Creator. I am also aware of his teachings about art being an essential path of spiritual experience. The purpose of our exercise is not to see who can make commercial art, but to enhance our connection with Spirit. We can not all be commercial artists, but by honoring the muse and being willing to share, we can all serve as visionary artists. [...]

In The Mission of Art, Alex Grey shows that his prodigious artistic gifts are moored in intellectual depth. Grey discusses art history, aesthetics, mysticism, religion, postmodernism, and processes of art reception with equal facility. This kind of writing is a rare treat. Only a small number of American artists have articulated their ideas in writing and fewer have done so with as much skill and alacrity. Grey's writing is reminiscent of G. Albert Aurier, the French Symbolist critic who shared Grey's mystical inclinations and his views about the spiritual and moral potential of art. Grey believes that mystically inspired art can in turn inspire its viewers to transcend today's oppressive consensual values of materialism, utilitarianism, and consumerism, and become aware of more authentic spiritual realities. There are a couple of factual inaccuracies, perhaps due to exaggeration or oversight, as where Grey states that mystical art was virtually absent in late nineteenth century Europe (p.37) and that Van Gogh labored in "complete obscurity" (p.90). Many prominent artists of the late nineteenth century French Symbolist movement were deeply inspired by neo-Platonic mysticism. Though Van Gogh never achieved material success, he was well known and respected by some major artists of his time. Aurier praised Van Gogh's art in a published review shortly before the latter's death. As the world seems to plummet ever deeper into eco-devastation and strife, to continue to hold out faith in general processes of human spiritual "evolution" which are aided by art, as Grey does, appears to demand ever more credulity. In my view, one can now realistically expect mystical art only to be a source of some personal inspiration and an exemplar of humanity's highest but tragically failed ideals. Its ideals of spiritual perfection might still be realizable, or approachable, by the minority of persons and minds which are receptive to it, but it has been virtually impotent as a means of producing a generalized social-spiritual transformation. Indeed, our society seems to appropriate such art as a means of a repressive desublimation of mystical idealism. Mystical art might tend to palliate and pacify idealistic urges, lulling some viewers into complacency by its pleasant presentations of images of spiritual self-actualization, images which, as wonderful as they may be, are only shadows of real conditions of actualization. Our society allows access to these images while doing its best to restrict access to the kinds of experiences which might truly facilitate such an actualization, such as the entheogenic experiences which largely inspired Grey, and competent shamanic guidance. Nevertheless, such mystical representations of what might be more realizable in a better world may for some others highlight the differences between what is and what ought to be, inspiring greater efforts to close the gap. Mystical imagery, as a means of Bildung or of the cultivation of consciousness, is capable of helping to "magnetize" the minds of receptive viewers, helping to keep some minds freed from Plato's cave and aimed toward the light.

Warp your mind and you just might see God. Haven't tried LSD. Have tried "Salvia Divinorum" (still legal as I write this in most areas) I don't smoke and rarely drink, and I've never even tried pot, something most who know me don't believe since my parents were hippies.

But, after being stuck in a 70 hour week overtime job for 3 years, I had an art block that made me feel almost suicidal. The flood of ideas trying to focus through that tiny speck of time I had burned me out.

So, against everything I'd ever done in life, I got some Salvia Divinorum after a lot of net research on anything "Psychedelic". And after a few trys had a hallucination beyond comprehension. Literally seeing God and his infinite love and creativity and how bright that burns in all of us, even as tiny and insignifigant the universe is in the greater universe beyond.

Reading this book I felt kinship. Someone who'd used a psychoactive and seen his true purpose.

I reccomend to anyone who wants to do art (with or without earning a dime from it) but feels limited or blocked by stress interferring with creativity to do this. Try a hallucinogen ONCE (or a couple times) and check out visionary stuff like this.

Mr. Grey is a modern day Avatar. The proof is in the Art.
If you care about Art, and feel like many, that Art can save the world, then this text can shed alot of light and hope.

It's a sorta "Art History" type text, from the Sacred and Trans-personal point of view... with some very interesting stuff on the expression of Art via the different Chakras.

In The Mission of Art, Alex Grey shows that his prodigious artistic gifts are moored in intellectual depth. Grey discusses art history, aesthetics, mysticism, religion, postmodernism, and processes of art reception with equal facility. This kind of writing is a rare treat. Only a small number of American artists have articulated their ideas in writing and fewer have done so with as much skill and alacrity. Grey's writing is reminiscent of G. Albert Aurier, the French Symbolist critic who shared Grey's mystical inclinations and his views about the spiritual and moral potential of art. Grey believes that mystically inspired art can in turn inspire its viewers to transcend today's oppressive consensual values of materialism, utilitarianism, and consumerism, and become aware of more authentic spiritual realities. There are a couple of factual inaccuracies, perhaps due to exaggeration or oversight, as where Grey states that mystical art was virtually absent in late nineteenth century Europe (p.37) and that Van Gogh labored in "complete obscurity" (p.90). Many prominent artists of the late nineteenth century French Symbolist movement were deeply inspired by neo-Platonic mysticism. Though Van Gogh never achieved material success, he was well known and respected by some major artists of his time. Aurier praised Van Gogh's art in a published review shortly before the latter's death.
As the world seems to plummet ever deeper into eco-devastation and strife, to continue to hold out faith in general processes of human spiritual "evolution" which are aided by art, as Grey does, appears to demand ever more credulity. In my view, one can now realistically expect mystical art only to be a source of some personal inspiration and an exemplar of humanity's highest but tragically failed ideals. Its ideals of spiritual perfection might still be realizable, or approachable, by the minority of persons and minds which are receptive to it, but it has been virtually impotent as a means of producing a generalized social-spiritual transformation. Indeed, our society seems to appropriate such art as a means of a repressive desublimation of mystical idealism. Mystical art might tend to palliate and pacify idealistic urges, lulling some viewers into complacency by its pleasant presentations of images of spiritual self-actualization, images which, as wonderful as they may be, are only shadows of real conditions of actualization. Our society allows access to these images while doing its best to restrict access to the kinds of experiences which might truly facilitate such an actualization, such as the entheogenic experiences which largely inspired Grey, and competent shamanic guidance. Nevertheless, such mystical representations of what might be more realizable in a better world may for some others highlight the differences between what is and what ought to be, inspiring greater efforts to close the gap. Mystical imagery, as a means of Bildung or of the cultivation of consciousness, is capable of helping to "magnetize" the minds of receptive viewers, helping to keep some minds freed from Plato's cave and aimed toward the light.

"Art has a function and a mission to interpret the world, to reveal the condition of the soul, to encourage our highest nature and awaken the spiritual faculties within every individual."

"Lesson number one is that for nearly every culture, art has been a revelatory spiritual and unifying force in the human community."

"The challenge to artists today is to integrate the vast visual legacy of human culture with their own deepest and highest personal insights, distilling that into works of art and making a living at it."

"What higher goal for artists' intentions than that their art may bring healing and blessings to viewers and catalyze their own and the viewer's spiritual evolution.?"

"The trick for most artists is to get themselves out of the way and let the spirit do its work."

- Alex Grey, The Mission of Art

This book had so many elements that made for it to be such a marvelous piece of art. It has its moments of seeming like an autobiography, as Grey talks about his life, his experiences, his beliefs, etc. Once some background story is established for the reader, Grey goes on to share his views on the art making process and its importance to the soul of the artist. He does this by referring to the experiences he had been through in his life. His organization and writing style made for a very effective communication between the writer and audience.
Grey's intent in writing this piece is to express his belief on the modern artist's dwindling desire to be moved to a higher level of universal consciousness through their work. He uses his personal beliefs in Buddhism, yoga, meditation and his experiences with a vast array of psychedelics to explain himself. I found the memoirs and stories from throughout his life to be absolutely fascinating and inspiring. He is such a talented artist but only because of the experiences he has been through. The main reason that I am so attracted to his work and to this piece of literature is because of the strength and passion you can feel radiating from his words. His desire for artists to feel transcended by their work comes from his own extremely powerful and moving experiences with his pieces, thus what he says is very personal and simply, very real.
I would recommend this book to not only artists, but all people that appreciate art. Grey makes it clear that art is in everything, thus having a love for art is having a love for life. It is a truly rare and precious gift to come across people that are talented, passionate, and genius, but I seem to have found that in Alex Grey. This book encapsulates the essence of his spirit and inspires you to dig deeper into your own being.