My studio building on Union Street, in Brooklyn, New York
In the early 1980s my art studio was in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York. I rented two floors in a loft building owned by Kendall Shaw, a painter and teacher whose artwork I admired. This was a large studio space though it had no natural light, except when you opened the front door at street level. My upstairs neighbor had moved out and a couple of new artists moved in and boy, what an impact they had! Their names were new to me - Allyson and Alex Grey, and as I learned a lot about them, I eventually wrote a story featuring their work intended for Arts Magazine ( but was never published! ) Arts Magazine has since gone out of business...
Now I knew that Allyson and Alex have started to branch out and create a space to show their art in a more permanent way - setting up a kind of museum which attracts a lot of visitors. When we drove down from Albany on this trip we decided to stop in to see Entheon, and it is near DIA Beacon, a different and much larger space for modern art. I was thinking about DIA Beacon because I knew that there is now a show about the art of Tehching Hsieh, another neighbor in my studio building in Brooklyn ( but that is a whole other story! )
Recent paintings by Allyson Grey
Allyson Grey makes abstract paintings with a bright color palette, often with a grid of squares, and she is very precise. Recent work incudes a set of new letters she invents. Some of these letters are actually set into the floor like tiles!
Alex Grey is a painter with his emphasis on the human form. I learned after they moved into their studio that Alex practiced a kind of medical illustration, anatomy was in his sight and he used it with authority! The couple were also into performance art, and I was interested in that too, so we made a friendship that has had a lasting effect. These two artists now have a long and lasting career, their art has a deep meaning and it is fascinating to see what they have accomplished.
Alex Grey created a series of paintings in Brooklyn that he showcases in the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors at Entheon
Alex Grey, Acrylic on linen 1986: detail of a large panorama called: "Theologue"
The Union of Human & Divine Consciousness
Weaving the Fabric of Space & Time in which
the Self & its Surroundings are Embedded
You can follow the development of the Grey's art almost like you are reading their autobiography. They have a little shop where you can find books about their artwork, and we even bought a few things for our own home. This stop on our Wanderlust tour was so exciting, to be able to catch up and see so many interesting works of art. Bravo!
There is a room set up with a whole exhibit of Alex Grey's self portraits so you can really see examples of his development and read about details of his story. In this portraiture you really get to the depth of what he is looking for, and this one below even has a photo of his daughter, Zena Grey!
Alex Grey self portrait from 1988
A kind of Tantric sculptural work on view at CoSM
We spent hours looking over the pieces of art on display. How lucky that we had time with the art and then before we left for Manhattan, we found out that Allyson and Alex were actually on the campus, so we had to give them both a hug!
From left to right: Allyson Grey, Alex Grey, Alan Singer, Anna Sears
