Friday, March 04, 2005

Current obsession of sorts

I just picked up the Seattle Weekly (or Seatle- as the chick who decorated our going-away cake put it) and saw that there's a new documentary out about Henry Darger. For some reason, he has been on my radar for the last several months. I saw a mention of him re. the MJ case on low culture (one of my bookmarked blogs). And my life hasn't been the same since. Spouse doesn't know it yet (he's sleeping, the jerk...) but we're going.

For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Darger, he was a messed up (understatement!!!) fellow who spent his rather sad life as a janitor. When he died in 1973, the landlord found an immense trove of outsider art in Darger's apartment. I'm pretty sure that the art is now worth gobs and gobs of lucre. It's really odd and disturbing stuff. NOT for consumption by minors.

See, Darger was obsessed by his fantasy world. He created a mythical reality inhabited by his main characters- the seven Vivienne sisters. His world has wars against children, torture of children, and some really fucked up imagery going on. It's disturbed and disturbing. But overwhelming, as well. The sheer quantity of material that he produced is staggering. And it's actually visually compelling. If mental illness informs art for some, then this is the poster child. And you thought Van Gogh's "little quirks" were something special...silly you!!! Anyway, check out http://www.hammergallery.com/Artists/darger/Darger.htm for a preview. And yes, the little girls have penises. I told you it was odd and unhinged stuff...

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