I used to be obsessed with these drawings. But the mystery of Henry Darger is even more peculiar, more haunting, than these little pictures. What has always fascinated me about them is the sheer volume of this collection, which consists of a 15,000 page novel about the tragedies of the Vivian Girls. You'll notice that, in the drawings, the girls are sexually ambiguous -- they're either hermaphrodites, girls with penises, or the naive invention of a man whose biological education never extended beyond the knowledge of his own body. Many art analysts do believe the latter. There is much speculation that the anatomy of the Vivian Girls is a result of naivete, rather than perversion, creativity or fantasy. Others, of course, thought he was perhaps a latent pedophile, or something else along those lines. I've read only a handful of pages from the epic Darger titled The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, and they truly are enigmatic, I know of nothing like them. The writing is not very good, either. Not engaging or as interesting as the artist's own life story might suggest. But it's what he lived for -- the Vivian Girls were his only friends, only family, only life. Nothing was simple in Henry's world. These many thousands of drawings range from pastoral images of little girls in yellow dresses, dancing around in a garden of butterflies, where everything is sensation, to being crucified by the dozen. Henry cast himself as their protector and Lord. To call him a recluse would be a sad understatement. No one knew he was an artist until his apartment had to be cleaned out by his landlords -- what it must have looked like in that little room; full of these eery little girls, landscapes of watercolor paintings depicting loneliness and fear.
What would Judith Butler say about Henry Darger and the Vivian Girls? What do we think of the drawings in relation to abjection?
Queering The Realms of the Unreal
I used to be obsessed with these drawings. But the mystery of Henry Darger is even more peculiar, more haunting, than these little pictures. What has always fascinated me about them is the sheer volume of this collection, which consists of a 15,000 page novel about the tragedies of the Vivian Girls. You'll notice that, in the drawings, the girls are sexually ambiguous -- they're either hermaphrodites, girls with penises, or the naive invention of a man whose biological education never extended beyond the knowledge of his own body. Many art analysts do believe the latter. There is much speculation that the anatomy of the Vivian Girls is a result of naivete, rather than perversion, creativity or fantasy. Others, of course, thought he was perhaps a latent pedophile, or something else along those lines. I've read only a handful of pages from the epic Darger titled The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, and they truly are enigmatic, I know of nothing like them. The writing is not very good, either. Not engaging or as interesting as the artist's own life story might suggest. But it's what he lived for -- the Vivian Girls were his only friends, only family, only life. Nothing was simple in Henry's world. These many thousands of drawings range from pastoral images of little girls in yellow dresses, dancing around in a garden of butterflies, where everything is sensation, to being crucified by the dozen. Henry cast himself as their protector and Lord. To call him a recluse would be a sad understatement. No one knew he was an artist until his apartment had to be cleaned out by his landlords -- what it must have looked like in that little room; full of these eery little girls, landscapes of watercolor paintings depicting loneliness and fear.
What would Judith Butler say about Henry Darger and the Vivian Girls? What do we think of the drawings in relation to abjection?
This entry intrigued me because I am an art lover and art history is a little bit of a hobby for me, which, being in school often goes to the wayside. Anyway, it looked a little familiar so I was curious if I had unknowingly come across Darger before and yes he is highlighted in one of my art books called Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology. Given, this book only allots for about 3-4 pages per artist most of which is the artists work, so it does not give much detail about the artist himself but there’s a little there. Anyway, I just was thinking about your question regarding the drawings in relation to abjection and I guess I was thinking about it more in terms of the Henry Darger as the abject and the art that results. Darger himself has been held as a quintessential example of “Outsider Art” which by definition is art created by the mentally ill, possibly depraved, and/or those considered to be far outside the mainstream art world and society. Just like Darger, these artists are typically not “discovered” until after their death for very obvious reasons…they exist as the abject of society. Darger spent a large portion of his childhood in a Catholic boys home where he is thought to have witnessed and suffered many abuses let alone his label of being ill for “self-abuse” (masturbation), we can only imagine the forms of punishment doled out for that. I guess most of his writing about his life centered on his childhood and it is also said that he heart wrenchingly advocated child rights and protection (mind you, this is 1892-1973 when human rights for children was relatively young). Additionally, it is known that he remained a devout catholic despite his childhood but due to his quiet existence not much more is known about him, and his work left behind causes many to hypothesis the status of his mental health and/or the relationship between it, his childhood, and his religion. In the book I have the historian writing about Darger’s work comments on how it was not meant to be seen or understood, it holds you outside of it and its content raises many feelings including confusion. With that said, I agree that the artwork and writing produced by this man is rather curious and serves as a great source for contemplating abjection, its inner workings and what it produces as well as its relationship to punishment (my term ). Thank you for bringing him up, now I want to see his documentary.