MicroCosm Gallery is pleased to present 12/15/05 - 2/11/06 "Minds Wide Open," a group show featuring some of the finest visionary artists working today. The artworld has recently shown interest in contemporary expressions of expanded states of awareness and Visionary themes. Witness the Museum of Contemporary Art, LA's "Ecstasy: In and About Altered States" and the exhibition at the Tate Gallery Liverpool, entitled "Summer of Love: Art and the Psychedelic Era" also Feigen's current exhibit, "Third Eye." Many of the artists featured in the "Ecstasy" show are newcomers to the subject, whereas the artists in "Minds Wide Open" are seasoned veterans.

Stylistic roots of this group are variously related to Symbolism, Surrealism, Minimalism, Geometric Abstraction, Comics, Tibetan art, and the psychedelic art movement of the 60’s. Each artist in the exhibition has carried forward vital themes from these movements into realms of the fantastic and transcendental. Theirs is an inclusive art which invites the viewer inside the mindscape of the artist, as they plumb visually extreme evocations of infinity, worlds of light, and high-intensity, full-spectrum color. This art eschews dogmatism as it bathes the viewer in retinal paroxysms, deep levels of union, and heightened feelings of self-integration.

Luke Brown's painted and digital imagery is one of the strongest translations of pure kaleidoscopic psychedelic consciousness. Dean Chamberlain's photographs rely on his technique of "light painting" with lamps and flashlights to summon forth a numinous luminous world. Kenny Scharf states that his work comes from an "unconscious... filled with pop imagery," and labels the work "Pop Surrealism". Carey Thompson describes his work as holomorphic transmission vision crystals with the primary intention of revealing the interconnectedness of all things. Much like a jazz performer, J Garcia paintings reflect his heart and mind in a spontaneous improvisational flow. Suzanne William's geometric abstractions chart realms of beauty with precision and subtlety. With the intention to paint abstract sacred art, Allyson Grey combines spectral grids of chaos, order, and secret writing. Alex Grey's paintings capture moments of transfiguration and provide a visual meditation on the nature of life and higher consciousness. Robert Williams' cartoon surrealism brilliantly juxtaposes multiple levels of reality with sophisticated, low-brow humor. Stacey Valis' atmospheric abstract photography capture fleeting moments of meditative splendor. Paul Laffoley's paintings intertwine his theory of dimensionality with maps of history, mathematics, the occult, architecture and consciousness. The organic, acid dosed abstract paintings of Oliver Vernon, plunge the viewer into vivid and vertiginous Baroque efflorescences. Many of the artists will be in attendance at the opening.

“MINDS WIDE OPEN” is a traveling exhibition which opened at Lightspace Gallery in Venice, California on September 24 and after it's New York appearance will travel to Chicago.