Visionary Art

February 13, 2007

One of the best examples of the use of the imagination is visionary art. According to Wikipedia: Visionary art is art that purports to transcend the physical world and portray a wider vision of awareness including spiritual or mystical themes, or is based in such experiences. Some famous artists of the past that fit this description are Hieronymous Bosch, William Blake, Gustave Moreau, and Ernst Fuchs.
One contemporary artist who is considered to be visionary, and a favorite of mine, is Alex Grey, whose work is truly mind-expanding and illustrative of experiences and conditions difficult to otherwise describe. In his book The Mission of Art (1998) he states that artistic creation can and should contribute to the enlightenment of the artist and the viewer of the art production.
Some of the many additional additional resources are The Society for Art of the Imagination; American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MDVisionary Review; and Raw Vision Magazine.

4 Responses to “Visionary Art”


  1. Good entry, lots of interesting links. Thanks!

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  2. Geoff Says:

    My favorite Alex Gray work is “Wonder.” (http://alexgrey.net/a-gallery/wndr.html)

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  3. I agree, Geoff, that Grey’s “Wonder” is excellent. My favorites are the one that reveal the body in it’s various manifestations of systems from bone through nervous system through subtle energy like “Praying” http://alexgrey.net/a-gallery/praying.html or “Tantra” http://alexgrey.net/a-gallery/tntra.html, for example.

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  4. Wendy Says:

    My goal here then is to clarify the uselessness of metaphysics, and then transition from empiricism (as a counter to moral rationalism),
    and move more directly into skepticism. It is for this reason that we
    will consider it separately, apart from the general view of religion, giving it a category of its own. The metaphysical
    hub of the American southwest, maybe even the world.

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