Shamanic Illuminations - The art of Pablo Amaringo, Alex Grey, and Mieshiel

For Immediate Release August 15, 2011 Contact: Mikaela Sardo Lamarche 212.206.8080 curator@acagalleries.com Shamanic Illuminations: The Art of Pablo Amaringo, Alex Grey and Mieshiel September 15 through October 22, 2011 Reception and Book Signing: Thursday, September 15 from 5 to 8pm Gallery Talk: Thursday, September 22 from 5 to 8pm Talk begins at 7pm ACA Galleries is pleased to announce Shamanic Illuminations: The Art of Pablo Amaringo, Alex Grey and Mieshiel, a group exhibition featuring the artwork of three visionary artists. . Ayari Warmi, 20 Pablo Amaringo (1938-2009) was born in Peru. He was 10 years old when he first took ayahuasca--a visionary brew used in shamanism. A severe heart illness -and the magical cure via ayahuasca-led Amaringo toward the life of a shaman He eventually became a powerful curandero-learning the icaros, or healing songs, that the ayahuasca brew inspired in him. In 1985 Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman by Dennis McKenna and Luis Eduardo Luna was published. In 1988, Amaringo founded the Usko Ayar School of Painting in Pucallpa, a school dedicated to teaching art along with the rich botanical diversity of the jungle. Jehua Supai, 2004 Amaringo was honored with the Global 500 award from the UN Environmental Program in 1992. Pablo Amaringo's latest volume, The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo by Howard G. Charing, Peter Cloudsley and Pablo Amaringo (Inner Traditions, 2011) includes 47 color plates of never-before-published paintings. It also includes reflections from many well-known artists and visionaries such as Robert Venosa, Graham Hancock, Jan Kounen and Dennis McKenna. Alex Grey (1953- ) was born in Columbus, Ohio. He attended Columbus College of Art and Design (1971-3) and Boston Museum School (1974-5). Grey worked five years in the Anatomy Department at Harvard Medical School and later worked at Harvard's Department of Mind/Body Medicine assisting scientists investigating subtle healing energies. Grey taught anatomy and figure sculpture for ten years at NYU and taught at RISD, Philadelphia College of Art, JFK University (CA), New York Open Center, Naropa Institute (CO), California Institute of Integral Studies, and Omega Institute (NY). Seraphic Transport Grey's paintings have been featured on the music albums of TOOL, SCI, Beastie Boys and Nirvana, blotter acid, thousands of tattoos, Rose Planetarium, stage sets at Radio City Music Hall, Newsweek and Time Magazines and the Discovery Channel. In 1999 there was a retrospective of his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Together with his wife, Allyson Grey, he co-founded CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. CoSM: The Movie (Docurama, 2006) documents Grey's tour of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors now a sanctuary of visionary art, located in Wappinger, New York. Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey by Alex Grey with Ken Wilber and Carlo McCormick and Transfigurations, a monograph of Grey's work, are available. Mystery of the Canyon Mieshiel (1964 - ) was born in New York City. He attended Friends Seminary and received his BFA in 1986 from California Institute of the Arts. Upon graduation Mieshiel moved into a 19th century Masonic Temple in downtown Los Angeles where he co-founded TAP (Temple Art Performance), a hub for avante-garde performance art, music and visual art. He later moved to New Mexico and spent the next 24 years in near seclusion, living off-the-grid. In this high desert sanctuary timelessness and utter quiet allowed him to experience an endless barrage of mystical experiences where his art connection with Pablo Amaringo was revealed. In 1982 Mieshiel won a competition and created a street mural at Irving Place in New York City. He designed the album jacket interior for the Séraphine soundtrack, produced by Warner Brothers. His work has been exhibited nationally and is included in the permanent collections of The Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, New Mexico and Amon Carter III, among other private collections

Amazonía: siete visiones contemporáneas - Art Exhibition, Lima Peru

Amazonía: siete visiones contemporáneas - Art Exhibition, Lima Peru

Seven Amazonian Artists present their visions of the Amazon Rainforest. It is an irony that this exhibition sponsored and hosted by Petroperu (the state owned oil corporation) , which (putting it mildly) is not a 'friend' to the Amazon rainforest.

It's history of oil pollution, and state sanctioned land-grabbing that recently culminated in major protests by indigenous people with a significant loss of life (May 2009). For further reading on this;

http://www.tierramerica.info/nota.php?lang=eng&idnews=3114

http://www.amazonwatch.org/

Amazonia Art Exhibition - Lima Peru

Photo Gallery on Flickr of the Exhibition;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hgcharing/sets/72157622366131421/

FROM THE PETROPERU PRESS RELEASE (English Translation incl).

En homenaje a los 27 años de la Refinería Iquitos y los 40 de la vida institucional de Petroperú, se presenta la muestra Amazonía: siete visiones contemporáneas. Esta exposición reúne la expresión pictórica de siete artistas radicados en la región Loreto.

Montada en la sala de arte de Petroperú, la exhibición nos presenta 30 pinturas trabajadas en acuarela y en óleo, cuyas temáticas reflexionan sobre la belleza amazónica, sus tradiciones y misterios, y reflejan la profunda inquietud social que se gesta en algunos espacios.

Es así cómo se exhibirán los trabajos de Francisco Grippa Jochamovich, quien –formado en California en los años setenta– regresó al país para internarse en la selva con los shipibos y los boras, es también uno de los iniciadores del boom de arte amazónico; Cliver Flores Lanza, renombrado pintor iquiteño egresado de la Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes; Sixto Saurín Púa, artista de prestigio nacional e internacional, dueño de una pictórica imponente.

Asimismo, están presentes en la muestra otros cuatro reconocidos artistas: Emilio López Rengifo, Yolanda Razzeto Ruiz; Pablo Amaringo Shuña y Juan Montes Torres.

El rugido artístico de la selva se escucha cada vez más fuerte en las galerías nacionales e internacionales. Su originalidad y la fortaleza de sus colores han creado una línea artística, que hoy por hoy está en toda efervescencia.

La exhibición se encuentra en la sala de arte Petroperú (Av. Canaval y Moreyra 150, San Isidro), el ingreso es libre, podrá visitarse hasta el 10 de octubre, de lunes a viernes de 1 a 8 p.m. y los sábados de 11 a.m. a 4 p.m.

In tribute to the 27 years of Iquitos Refinery and 40 of the institutional life of Petroperu Amazon presents sample: seven contemporary views. This exhibition brings together the pictorial expression of seven artists based in the Loreto region.

Mounted in the art gallery Petroperu, the exhibit presents 30 paintings worked in watercolor and oil paintings, whose subjects reflect on Amazonian beauty, its traditions and mysteries, and reflect the deep unrest that is happening in some areas.

This is how it will exhibit works of Francisco Grippa Jochamovich, who, formed in California in the seventies, returned to the country and into the jungle with the Shipibo and the Boras, is also one of the initiators of the art boom Amazonian Cliver Flores Lanza, renowned painter iquiteño graduate of the College of Fine Arts; Sixto Saurin Pick, an artist of national and international prestige, owner of a stunning pictorial.

They are also present in the sample other four renowned artists: Emilio Lopez Rengifo, Razzeto Yolanda Ruiz and Juan Pablo Montes Shuna Amaringo Torres.

The art of the jungle roar is heard louder in the national and international galleries. His originality and strength of their colors have created an artistic line, which currently is in full swing.

The exhibition is at the art gallery Petroperú (Av Canaval and Moreyra 150, San Isidro), admission is free, can be visited until October 10, Monday through Friday from 1 to 8 pm and Saturdays, 11 a.m. at 4 p.m.

Visionary Art and Ayahuasca Workshop with Pablo Amaringo

A Visionary Art workshop and Ayahuasca Retreat in the Amazon Rainforest

THE AYAHUASCA VISIONS OF PABLO AMARINGO

July 25^th - August 5^th 2009

PABLO AMARINGO

Pablo Amaringo is one of the world's great visionary artists. He is renowned for his highly complex, colourful and intricate paintings inspired by his visions from when he was an Ayahuasca shaman. He trained as a curandero or healer in the Amazon, healing himself and others from the age of ten, but gave this up in 1977 to become a full-time painter and art teacher at the Usko-Ayar school of Amazonian art which he founded. His book, Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman, co-authored with Luis Eduardo Luna, brought his work and the rich mythology of the Amazon to a wide public in the West.

We are delighted to offer a rare opportunity to join Pablo Amaringo in a visionary art workshop with night time Ayahuasca Ceremonies

This special event consists of a ten day workshop and Ayahuasca retreat with Pablo Amaringo in the beautiful heart of the Amazon Rainforest at a dedicated Retreat Center in the Allpahuayo Mishana Nature reserve.

Each day, Pablo will hold a hands-on Art workshop; participants will enjoy the unique experience of learning the art of visionary and nature painting with Pablo. This workshop is suitable for beginners as well as experienced and proficient artists.

Each night we offer traditional Ayahuasca ceremonies with Shipibo Shamans, Enrique Lopez, and an elder maestro - Benjamín Ochavano or Leoncio Garcia (depending on the number of participants). Also we will have available shamanic plants, plantas maestras, which enhance dream intensity and visionary and sensory perception, such as Guayusa and Ajo Sacha.

This workshop-retreat is also a journey of self-exploration through the medium of Art and Ayahuasca, with guidance from Pablo Amaringo and our Maestro Shamans.

Click to view Pablo's Video Invitation to this workshop.

PABLO ‘S WORDS ON THIS WORKSHOP - (transcribed from Video)

“Its a good idea because people would see something of Mishana as well as what lies ahead in their lives. In fact through drawing they can learn so much more from drinking the ayahuasca. It will help them to understand their environment and value it more, wherever they live”.

To learn to care for and respect plants, to look after the rivers, the water ..... as well as their homes and family. ... we should value animals too. For me as an artist, my concentration in the Amazon is of great value because the truth is, without plants and animals, we couldn't live”.

Question: "so its an invitation to anyone?"

So the invitation is for everyone who wants to appreciate more and know... in this case to learn how to learn.

Question: "how could the workshop help people in their creative process"?

“Ayahuasca teaches when people start to see colours and forms...... the motifs and composition of a plant, an animal or a person ..... or elements like the clouds...... they can learn to see the molecules of ayahuasca which themselves are based on colours”.

“When I do this work myself, I realise that every plant has leaves but they're all different.... each one a style of its own, they can never be the same, nature is full of wisdom! Its divine, the roots too are all different, branches, flowers. That's how I learned to paint - from nature - I never learned from books or teachers.... nature gives the structure”.

Pablo’s paintings represent a reliable testimony to how the indigenous people of the Amazon live in constant awareness of spiritual realms.

The Shipibo for example, have a strong presence in the region where Pablo lives and are one of the largest indigenous groups in the Peruvian Amazon having their own language, traditions and culture. Today they number about 20,000 and live in communities along the Ucayali River and around Yarinacocha, an oxbow lake near Pucullpa.

The Shipibo world is under laid by intricate geometric patterns of great complexity and is displayed in their art. This concept of an all pervading magical reality challenges the Western linguistic heritage and rational mind. The patterns are an expression of the oneness of creation, the inter-changeability of light and sound, the union or fusion of perceived opposites. It is an ongoing dialogue or communion with the spiritual world and powers of the Rainforest. The visionary art of the Shipibo brings this paradigm into a physical form.

Pablo's painting classes are a creative form of entertainment. Like story telling, they bring Amazonian legends and fairy tales to life. These consider cosmic questions such as the origins of human consciousness and the power of the imagination. Many legends speak of a 'time of the ancestors' when humans regularly communicated with the spirits, and sensed and moved like animals and birds with whom they could converse. This era occurred before the rational mind separated us from the mysteries of the cosmos, a loss sorely lamented to this day but which - thanks to Ayahuasca - can be reversed. These are some of the themes of Pablo's Amazonian School of Painting.

Mishana Private Retreat Centre

This programme will take place in the Mishana Private Retreat Centre. We have 57 Hectares (140 acres) of land with a lodge in the Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve in the department of Loreto, Peru. Our lodge is located directly on the river, which is part of the 58,070 hectare nature reserve.

Due to a combination of geological factors and diverse soil types, the reserve supports a unique community of plant and animal species. It is the ‘jewel’ in the crown for bird watchers and contains dozens of species, which are unique to this area. The Reserve contains one of the highest biodiversities known in the Amazon basin. Our Lodge is located directly on the Rio Nanay, a tributary of the Amazon River. The mild acidity of its black waters are not popular with mosquito larvae and this means there are virtually no mosquitoes.

The journey to our lodge from Iquitos takes two hours in our power boat. We are situated in-between two bends of the river giving an amazing panoramic view. The boat is always available so trips can be made to some interesting, and extraordinarily beautiful places along the river.

We work with maestro Shipibo shamans Benjamin Ochavano, Enrique Lopez, and Leoncio Garcia. We will work with two of the shamans listed above on this programme.

Included in the program are individual personal healing or consultative sessions with our shamans, based upon your personal needs. The maestros will also provide teachings about the fascinating medicinal and psycho-spiritual properties of the local plants.

For full details and a 22 page downloadable PDF programme, visit our website;

http://www.shamanism.co.uk

The Visionary Art Workshop with Pablo Amaringo is a post event workshop of the 5th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: July 11th - 18th 2009.

Cl.ick to Visit the Conference website: