Artist Spotlights: Brin Levinson and Alex Grey

I have to say that while the arts scene is taking a bit of a hit due to the recession, there are still a ton of amazing USA artists around if you just take the time to look. For example, I became familiar with Brin Levinson (currently living and working in the Pacific Northwest) through his promotional postings on Craigslist. His paintings have amazing color and texture to them and portray the people and landscapes around him not as they are, but what they could be, from an alternate universe perhaps. Very strikingly surrealistic work. View his website here or go "Friend" him at Myspace.

And then there is Alex Grey, a well-known New York City artist whose transcendent artwork reaches beyond this work and straight into the next. According to one reviewer, "Alex Grey is one of the great art mystics of our time." A cool interview with Grey can be read here.

I recommend a trip up to his gallery, The Chapel of the Sacred Mirrors, on West 27th Street, to see for yourself. I've been meaning to go for quite some time now myself.