"NeoHooDoo, a phrase coined by the poet Ishmael Reed in the late 1960s, celebrates the practice of rituals, folklore, and spirituality in the Americas beyond the scope of Christianity and organized religion. This book examines the work of thirty-three artists, including Jimmie Durham, David Hammons, Jose Bedia, Rebecca Belmore, and James Lee Byars, who began using ritualistic practices during the 1970s and 1980s as a way of reinterpreting aspects of their cultural heritage. Younger artists such as Tania Bruguera and Michael Joo are shown to have drawn upon the iconography of ritual. The original essays, which discuss artistic use of ritual as a form of celebration, catharsis, or political critique, stand alongside contributions from NeoHooDoo's key sources of inspiration: Robert Farris Thompson, Ishmael Reed, and Quincy Troupe."--Jacket.