NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith

Published by the Menil Foundation and distributed by the Yale University Press, the catalog NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith accompanied the exhibition with the same name at the Menil and at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center.

“NeoHooDoo”, a term coined in the late 1960s by poet Ishmael Reed, celebrates the rituals, folklore, and spirituality in the Americas beyond the scope of Christianity and other organized religions. The endurance of these centuries-old traditions of magic and healing are the focus of this unique book. Exploring how spirituality influenced artists in the late 20th century and bringing together an intergenerational group of artists from North, Central, and South America, NeoHooDoo reveals the wider implications of ritualized practice in contemporary art.

The typography pairs Odile and Elido (Odile in reverse): a sans/serif superfamily with a wide range of variations for editorial use. The design concept for the superfamily draws inspiration from an experimental typeface named Charter, originally designed by the American book and type designer William Addison Dwiggins.

Elido follows Odile’s proportions and matches the weight and typographic color of its serif twin. Odile is a text typeface with bracketed head and bracket-free bottom lower case serifs, a quality that defies conventional type classification. Elido is a sans with classical proportions with a slight geometric hint and open counters that convey an airy feel. Elido’s family structure and relations within echo the conceptual approach of the Odile typeface family. Both include a beautiful set of ornaments, and initials in flavors of rational to elaborate. The distinct qualities of versatile and sincere traits make Odile and Elido an excellent pair for text and display use.