Henry Darger in popular culture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Since the 1973 death of Henry Darger and the discovery of his massive opus as an outsider artist, and especially since the 1990s there have been many references in popular culture to his work. These have variously incorporated elements of his artistic style, his themes, and the events of his life; many refer to the Vivian Girls, the young heroines of his massive illustrated novel.
Contents |
[edit] Visual arts
- A 1998 painting titled In The Realm of the Unreal (acrylic on panel, mounted on a child's pajamas) by artist Joe Coleman features images of Henry Darger, his characters, imagery and literary work.
- The cover art of the 2005 Animal Collective album Feels is purportedly an homage to Darger's visual style.
- Rock-and-roll poster artist Jermaine Rogers has cited Henry Darger as a major influence.
[edit] Comics and graphic novels
- Hans Rickheit and co-writer Ria collaborated on a minicomic based on Darger's life and works, entitled The Warstorm, with some details changed, such as Darger's name.
- A character in Neil Gaiman's graphic novel, Endless Nights, appears to be based upon Henry Darger, as a mentally ill janitor who is writing a lengthy novel about the "Sky Boys".
[edit] Computer games
- Some of the computer graphics in the browser-based game SiSSYFiGHT 2000 were inspired by Darger's paintings.
[edit] Poetry and music
- Snakefinger wrote a song "The Vivian Girls" and recorded it on his 1979 album Chewing Hides the Sound.
- Philadelphia-based singer/guitarist Quentin Stoltzfus, better known as Mazarin, has a song titled Henry Darger on his 1999 album, Watch it Happen.
- Natalie Merchant wrote and recorded a song "Henry Darger" on her 2001 album Motherland.
- The Toronto hardcore punk band Fucked Up perform a song "Vivian Girls" on their 2006 double LP Hidden World.
- Poet John Ashbery wrote Girls on The Run, a book-length prose poem based on Darger's works.
- A punk rock band from Melbourne, Australia took the name The Vivian Girls.
- Sufjan Stevens' album of outtakes from Illinois, entitled The Avalanche, includes a song entitled "The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies."
- "Lost Girls", a song by the indie band Tilly and the Wall, is based on Darger's work.
- In The Realms of the Unreal, an album by Burton Wagner is based on Darger's work.
- The Vivian Girls Experience is a folk/pop musical project which incorporates many of Darger's themes and characters into song form. The band is based in Philadelphia/New York and is a collaborative project between artists Enid Crow and Justin Duerr.
- Adrian Orange (formerly Thanksgiving) has taken to performing under the name 'Adrian Orange and the Child Slave Rebellion' as of 2006.
[edit] Theatre and dance
- Playwright Mac Wellman wrote Jennie Richee (2003), a multimedia piece, based on Darger's life and work.
- Choreographer Pat Graney created a multimedia piece entitled The Vivian Girls (2004) based on, and incorporating, images from Darger's art.
