Entheon Exhibit–Review
Entheon Exhibit–Review
On a cold January morning, I set out to visit “Entheon”, an immersive exhibition by Alex and Allyson Grey in Canary Wharf, London. This married couple are two of the most recognisable psychedelic artists around; Alex Grey’s “Death”, from 1990, features on the front of Dr. Rick Strassman’s “DMT: The Spirit Molecule”, he has also created a series for the band Tool, while his “Purple Jesus” was featured on blotter art that sold during the Grateful Dead’s last tour. Allyson Grey’s “Secret Writing” is often referenced to describe the strange lettering seen on high doses of psychedelics. At the same time, her theory of chaos and order can help us understand the psychedelic underpinnings of reality. She says that through the use of psychedelics, these two polarities can be unified, “order in chaos, chaos in order”.
This sense of unified duality is present once you step off the tube at Canary Wharf, the beating heart of London’s financial district. The sky is blocked by JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and their pals looming over you and they seek to impose their own order on the area. Police eye the homeless suspiciously and private security is everywhere to supplement what the Met might miss. It’s a strange place to find such a unique and spiritually minded gallery, to say the least. It turned out that finding the exhibition amongst the chaos of high-end stores, and national headquarters, was the next challenge. I finally found a sign that pointed me up some stairs and to Illusionaries, where the Entheon exhibition is hosted. It wasn’t long before I stepped into the darkened corridor which functions as a space to travel between the rooms and as a room in and of itself.
Photo by Max Bowden
This transitory room is titled “The Hall of Beings” and features infinity mirrors and sculptures based on the four-faced figures seen in artworks such as “Steeplehead”, “Bardo Being”, or “Net of Being”. This hall brings Alex’s renditions of deep mental and spiritual places into the physical world and sets this as an intention for the rest of the exhibition. The four-faced sculptures recall, for me, William Blake’s visionary concepts on the power of four and Fourfold Vision. There is a Blakean quality to a lot of Grey’s work, and they share an inner focus that seeks to bring to the surface that which lies deep inside every person.
The first room you enter off the hall is titled “Entheon: A Place to Discover the Creator Within”. The walls are projected with twisting, morphing renditions of Grey’s large “Sanctuary of Visionary Art” gallery at his Church of Sacred Mirrors, also titled “Entheon”. These images fall into one another, as the animations pull out the perfect tessellation of the twisting faces and shining eyes. We see the facade of “Entheon”, alongside the “Creating a Better World” doors that feature Adam and Eve, a twisting helix that turns into the biblical snake, alongside various sacred symbols and allusions to art and spirituality. This space functions as a threshold for the rest of the exhibit, inviting you into the vision of these two storied artists, symbolised by the opening of these symbolically laden doors at the start of the video loop.
Photo by Max Bowden
From here, you travel to “Progress of The Soul”, a room mirrored on every wall but one, along with the ceiling and floor. On the remaining wall, a screen plays an animated exploration of Alex and Allyson’s work, exploring some of their most famous images, such as “Gaia” and “Jewel Being”. This kaleidoscopic animation is amplified by the mirrors, repeating the images in endlessly smaller refractions, much like we can see across the body of work of these two artists. The perfect tessellation of these images speaks to the artists’ commitment to a sense of unity, and connectedness while the form of the rooms themselves seeks to expand these visions further into reality than they’ve ever been before.
The next room is a little grounding and explores the development of Allyson’s philosophy of Chaos, Order, and Secret Writing. A short documentary plays while projections of her writing move across the floor, and plaques explain this unique perspective on the universe. This leads into the final two rooms, the first of which is a rendition of Alex’s exploratory artwork series “Sacred Mirrors”, one of the centrepieces of the Church of Sacred Mirrors. These artworks seek to show the interconnectedness of the spiritual and the physical and guide viewers into a more holistic understanding of both.
Photo by Max Bowden
From here the final room ties together the whole exhibition, offering a meditation garden to reflect, with a thirteen-foot Steeplehead sculpture featuring a projection mapping exhibit that brings the head to life with rolling textures, patterns, and animations. This space felt special, with a deep sense of tranquillity. I stayed for three loops of the animation, supplemented by specially crafted music because I wasn’t quite ready to set foot back amongst the sea of gilets and Savile Row suits that is Canary Wharf. The space allows you to reflect on what you’ve seen, and grounds you after the sometimes dizzying animations and reflections of reflections.
It’s hard to imagine a more psychedelic way of displaying and exploring the work of some of the most seminal psychedelic artists around, and their philosophy is explored here through both form and content in ways that it has never been before. This is a truly special exhibition you must visit whether you’re a storied fan or an initiate. I promise there’s nothing better to do in Canary Wharf.
Tickets £23/£18 (concessions), https://www.illusionaries.com/entheon
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Photo by Max Bowden
Photo by Max Bowden
