ACA Galleries Presents 'Shamanic Illuminations' 9/15-10/22

ACA Galleries will present Shamanic Illuminations: The Art of Pablo Amaringo, Alex Grey and Mieshiel from September 15 through October 22, 2011. There will be a Reception and Book Signing: Thursday, September 15 from 5 to 8pm and a Gallery Talk: Thursday, September 22 from 5 to 8pm Talk begins at 7pm

ACA Galleries is pleased to announce Shamanic Illuminations: The Art of Pablo Amaringo, Alex Grey and Mieshiel, a group exhibition featuring the artwork of three visionary artists.Pablo Amaringo (1938-2009) was born in Peru. He was 10 years old when he first took ayahuasca--a visionary brew used in shamanism. A severe heart illness -and the magical cure via ayahuasca-led Amaringo toward the life of a shaman

He eventually became a powerful curandero-learning the icaros, or healing songs, that the ayahuasca brew inspired in him. In 1985 Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman by Dennis McKenna and Luis Eduardo Luna was published.

In 1988, Amaringo founded the Usko Ayar School of Painting in Pucallpa, a school dedicated to teaching art along with the rich botanical diversity of the jungle.

Amaringo was honored with the Global 500 award from the UN Environmental Program in 1992.

Pablo Amaringo's latest volume, The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo by Howard G. Charing, Peter Cloudsley and Pablo Amaringo (Inner Traditions, 2011) includes 47 color plates of never-before-published paintings. It also includes reflections from many well-known artists and visionaries such as Robert Venosa, Graham Hancock, Jan Kounen and Dennis McKenna.
Alex Grey (1953- ) was born in Columbus, Ohio. He attended Columbus College of Art and Design (1971-3) and Boston Museum School (1974-5). Grey worked five years in the Anatomy Department at Harvard Medical School and later worked at Harvard's Department of Mind/Body Medicine assisting scientists investigating subtle healing energies.

Grey taught anatomy and figure sculpture for ten years at NYU and taught at RISD, Philadelphia College of Art, JFK University (CA), New York Open Center, Naropa Institute (CO), California Institute of Integral Studies, and Omega Institute (NY).

Grey's paintings have been featured on the music albums of TOOL, SCI, Beastie Boys and Nirvana, blotter acid, thousands of tattoos, Rose Planetarium, stage sets at Radio City Music Hall, Newsweek and Time Magazines and the Discovery Channel.

In 1999 there was a retrospective of his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Together with his wife, Allyson Grey, he co-founded CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. CoSM: The Movie (Docurama, 2006) documents Grey's tour of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors now a sanctuary of visionary art, located in Wappinger, New York.

Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey by Alex Grey with Ken Wilber and Carlo McCormick and Transfigurations, a monograph of Grey's work, are available.

Mieshiel (1964 - ) was born in New York City. He attended Friends Seminary and received his BFA in 1986 from California Institute of the Arts. Upon graduation Mieshiel moved into a 19th century Masonic Temple in downtown Los Angeles where he co-founded TAP (Temple Art Performance), a hub for avante-garde performance art, music and visual art. He later moved to New Mexico and spent the next 24 years in near seclusion, living off-the-grid. In this high desert sanctuary timelessness and utter quiet allowed him to experience an endless barrage of mystical experiences where his art connection with Pablo Amaringo was revealed.

In 1982 Mieshiel won a competition and created a street mural at Irving Place in New York City. He designed the album jacket interior for the Séraphine soundtrack, produced by Warner Brothers. His work has been exhibited nationally and is included in the Permanent Collections of The Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, New Mexico and Amon Carter III, among other private collections.