Interiority and the art of Alex Grey
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Interiority should be thought of in opposition to exteriority, which is the outer world, the realm of the physical, the concrete, the easily represented.
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Interiority is the realm of the spirit. It is abstract. It can also be thought of as a space constructed in opposition to the exterior world.
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"A psychic site of refuge constructed to accommodate an imagined alternative life..." Theodor Adorno
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Since art is concerned with interiority, art is concerned with giving structure to the inner world.
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The eye is the trigger of the mind. Closing your eyes and seeing inwardly is called "seeing independently."
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Seeing independently is a way to clear and stabilize your mind and body.
 Alex Grey was born in Columbus, Ohio on November 29, 1953 (Sagittarius), the middle child of a gentle middle-class couple. His father was a graphic designer and encouraged his son's drawing ability. Young Alex would collect insects and dead animals from the suburban neighborhood and bury them in the back yard.
 The themes of death and transcendence weave throughout his artworks, from the earliest drawings to later performances, paintings and sculpture.
 Alex then spent five years at Harvard Medical School working in the Anatomy department studying the body and preparing cadavers for dissection. He also worked at Harvard's department of Mind/Body Medicine with Dr. Herbert Benson and Dr. Joan Borysenko conducting scientific experiments to investigate subtle healing energies.
 Grey was an instructor in Artistic Anatomy and Figure Sculpture for ten years at New York University, and now teaches courses in Visionary Art with Allyson at The Open Center in New York City, Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, the California Institute of Integral Studies and Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.
 His depictions of the human body "x-ray" the multiple layers of reality, and reveal the interplay of anatomical and spiritual forces.
The iconography in the background of this painting owes alot to the images found in paintings that depict the temptation of St Anthony.
The use of tightly interlocking positive and negataive spaces gicves this painting a core philosophical structural meaning.
 The artist as visionary dispells the darkness and the ignorance that is associated with it.
 These two paintings attempt to reveal the inner experience of birth
Helpful links
http://www.alexgrey.com/
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