Henry Darger
1892-1973

Born in 1892, left motherless by age four and institutionalized by his early teens for having a “heart [that] is not in the right place,” Darger’s extensive collection of paintings and writings are considered to reflect his unstable and often solitary youth. Forced labor and severe punishments at the asylum created a great distrust in Darger towards adults and led him to acting out (in what is now believed to be a form of Tourettes). By 16, Darger escaped the asylum and led a steady life living in Chicago and working at a Catholic hospital. It was not until after he died in 1973 that his landlord discovered the array of artwork that accumulated for almost 60 years. Included in the collection are the 15,145-page fantasy novel, the longest fiction ever written, and several hundred drawings and paintings. A common theme in his art involves transgendered children engaging in violent battles that mimic historic Catholic events. Based on a later autobiography by Darger, it is clear that he had strong reactions to abuse he witnessed at the asylum, and therefore, often depicted children in his paintings and writings as heroic martyrs.

BIO SITES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Darger

http://www.hammergallery.com/Artists/darger/

http://folkartmuseum.org/
GALLERIES:

http://www.abcd-artbrut.org/

http://www.edlingallery.com

http://www.petulloartcollection.org/

http://www.hammergallery.com/

http://www.foundationstaart.org

http://www.gseart.com/

http://www.jsaslowgallery.com
ARTICLES:

http://www.villagevoice.com/

http://www.timeout.com/

http://query.nytimes.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/

http://query.nytimes.com/

http://findarticles.com/

http://findarticles.com/
BOOKS:

Copyright 2009 Tesseract Fillms