Thursday, May 29, 2008

Do you know who Henry Darger is?

Well, do you? If you were reading a book (about comics, say), and the author were to throw in a reference to someone (Dave Sim, say) being a bit like Henry Darger, would you know what they were getting at? That's if they said nothing to explain who Darger was, I mean.

By chance, I do actually know who Henry Darger is, but I had thought he was a very obscure figure, and not someone you could mention and expect people to understand what you were talking about. Maybe he is a household name in that America.

image source

5 comments:

Andrew Farrell said...

That's what reading your blog's like all the time!

CarsmileSteve said...

i didn't know who he is, but then, coincidentally my great rock mate MJ Hibbett sent me a link to an band who cite him as an influence, shpooky...

http://www.myspace.com/slowdowntallahasseegirls

looks flaming indie to me (can't listen to stuff at work)

Andrew Sherman said...

Yeah he's in the New Yorker every week. Well, maybe not every week. This piece calls him one of the Big Three of twentieth-century outsiders for example. So he is maybe more known in the art world than the comics world.

Anonymous said...

I think he came to light a few years ago when that film/documentary about him came out.

I don't know if he's more known here cos he lived in Chicago and there's always some tribute to him/his life/his mental state/his art (ok) on at some gallery.

Slow Down Tallahassee list him as one of their influences? Hmmm bizarre. They are a good band, though, Car Smile Steve! And I love the Hibbett, too.

ian said...

Andrew S, I think these outsider fellows must be so mainstream in the USA now that they are effectively insiders.

Andrew F, pay attention!