The Evil Spell
Artist
Daphne Odjig
(Canadian, 1919 - 2016)
Date1995
Mediumserigraph
Dimensions76.2 x 101.2 cm
Credit LineThe Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern. Purchased with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts 2009.
Object number2009.11
Classificationsprint
On View
Not on viewDaphne Odjig’s work combines Anishinaabe and Coast Salish traditions with Cubism and Surrealism. Early in her career Odjig was commissioned to illustrate the renowned book Tales from the Smokehouse (1974), comprised of Indigenous erotic stories collected by anthropologist Herbert T. Schwartz. This illustration, The Evil Spell accompanies a story of a white Christian minister who preaches chastity and marriage to young women before they have the chance to “pick berries from many bushes.”
A feminist Anishinaabe artist and activist, Daphne Odjig helped bring an Indigenous voice to the foreground of contemporary Canadian art. In the 1970s, she established Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. in Winnipeg, which expanded to become the New Warehouse Gallery—the first Indigenous-owned art gallery in Canada. The gallery was a generative space which lead to the formation of the artists’ alliance, Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., also known as The Indian Group of Seven.
A feminist Anishinaabe artist and activist, Daphne Odjig helped bring an Indigenous voice to the foreground of contemporary Canadian art. In the 1970s, she established Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. in Winnipeg, which expanded to become the New Warehouse Gallery—the first Indigenous-owned art gallery in Canada. The gallery was a generative space which lead to the formation of the artists’ alliance, Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., also known as The Indian Group of Seven.
