There is generally a God for everything: a God of wisdom, a god of death, a god of war, and so on. Interestingly, there is also a God of Visionary Art! The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM)—a registered non-profit and DMT-inspired church, is constructing the Entheon: “A place to discover God within.”
A three-story building in a 40-acre tree-studded plot, just beyond Duchess County, will be home to this controversial chapel. Co-founded by artist husband and wife, Alex and Allyson Grey, the windowless art space will become a temple for visionary art, among other things.
The couple previously ran an art space in Chelsea, but they closed it in 2009 and moved upstate. In Wappingers Falls, they’ve been running a psychedelic version of bed-and-breakfast as well as hosting concerts, events, full-moon festivities.
Alex Grey is well known for his hyper-detailed paintings of human bodies set against trippy backgrounds. The underlying systems—circulatory, musculature, and spiritual points, can be seen through the translucent skin. Grey has exhibited at the New Museum in 1986, a sign that his audience is more than just the DMT-inclined.
Courtesy CoSM
At CoSM, art is placed at the very center of the faith. For the members, art is the manifestation of the divine itself. When art is more than a gateway to the divine, it is not surprising that the couple would build a temple to celebrate creativity.
The artists selected the point on the 40-acre plot, aligning with the solar plexus of the “kabbalistic sephirot of justice” to build their chapel. Also, they started converting a former carriage house into the Entheon.
Courtesy CoSM
The three-level 12,000-square-foot concrete structure is filled with modern amenities including an elevator. As with the start of the relationship between the Greys and the church, psychedelics like DMT play an important role in the design of the church. The bare concrete structure will also have highly detailed renderings by Ryan Tottle—An award-winning animator.
Four-faced “Soulbirds”—inspired by ancient Egypt, guard one door, while the other door has a design of Adam and Eve returning to the Garden of Eden. “Angels of Creative Imagination” are interspersed between “Godheads” on the outer facade. The Godheads “bear symbols of different world-wisdom traditions above each cosmic eye”. At the corners of the roof, rising to meet each other at the center, are “DNA dragons.” These are vibrating creatures whose sides feature a continuous double helix.
Courtesy CoSM
A script that uses a 20-letter unpronounceable alphabet, also known as Allyson’s “secret writing,” runs on the upper edge of this church.
Additionally, the roof has “Collective Vision” which is a concentric array of eyes. Alex was inspired by a DMT experience as he created this roof pattern to be a “canopy of consciousness”. The artists hope to use cast concrete, 3D printing, and other technologies to create the facade of Entheon.
The interior of the church is proposed to be equally elaborate. A Chapel of Sacred Mirrors with Gothic-style Arches, All One Gallery, a museum shop, and a reliquary room are among the spaces visitors can find when they go through the golden doors of the Entheon. The reliquary room will feature the spectacles of Albert Hoffman—the Swiss scientist who was the first to synthesize and take LSD, and the ashes of Timothy Leary—a psychedelic evangelist and Harvard professor.
Once completed, visitors will be able to get a fulfilling experience of psychedelic architecture and art.
All Images Courtesy Of CoSM