When she was a little girl in North Carolina, on the cusp of the 20th century, Minnie Evans began to have strange dreams. The visions were so vivid and overpowering that they often kept her awake all night. By the time Evans turned 13, she had to stop going to school. Opportunities for Black women were limited back then, and in 1916 she found work as a domestic servant, later becoming a gatekeeper at the hunting estate Pembroke Park—a job she held until her death in 1974, at 82. In 1935, after she made two pen-and-ink drawings, Evans began to draw in earnest. Soon after, she heard a voice that said, “Why don’t you draw or die?” She spent the rest of her life translating those voices into surreal, psychedelic visions on paper—something like Shaker “Spirit Drawings,” but more colorful and baroque. In 1975, Evans became the first Black artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum. This exhibition presents works covering her career. —Elena Clavarino