Friday, March 20, 2015

VODOU SPIRITS AT THE FIELD MUSEUM

Vodou God Danblewoum, 10 x 6 inch ink drawing by George C. Clark    AVAILABLE

Yesterday I went to Chicago's Field Museum to see the exhibition "VODOU: Sacred Spirits of Haiti," and I sketched some of the objects on display.  This was a polychromed wood carving of the god Danblewoum about three feet tall with a real metal machete. 

Vodou Spirits, 10 x 6 inch ink drawing by George C. Clark    Available

Most of the objects in the exhibition were anonymous folk art created by various hands.  However, there were a number of these 4 foot tall effigies of stuffed fabric painted mostly red and black with pieces of broken mirrors embedded in them for eyes and elsewhere that struck me as being the work of a single artist, although as near as I could tell hardly any artists were credited.  They were strong and alarming images and I sketched a few of them, here and below.  

Vodou Gods, 10 x 6 inch ink drawing by George C. Clark    AVAILABLE

These are the gods Legba Kita Bizango and Baron La Croix.  All these vodou drawings are pages from my sketchbook.

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