The Henry Darger Room

Entering the secretive world of outsider artist Henry Darger can be fascinating, but also unsettling for those unfamiliar with him. Darger was a reclusive school janitor, World War I veteran, and prolific writer and artist. He passed away in the 1970s and when they began to clear out his room they discovered a book he had written that was several thousand pages long about an epic tale about the Vivian Girls and their adventures. Darger had a wonderful visual sense of narrative and also used tracing as a recurring technique within his drawings. 

Darger had a distorted understanding of children, depicting them sometimes naked and in graphic scenarios that usually dealt with loss and the exploitation of innocence. He never openly expressed whether or not he wanted his work to be exhibited, casually mentioning before his death that everything he owned could just get burned or thrown away.

At the Intuit Center, they've permanently recreated his room that he lived in for many years and filled it many actually objects he owned. It's a fascinating place about a very fascinating person. Below I've included that full documentary about Darger, "The Realms of the Unreal".

 

The Henry Darger full documentary "The Realms of the Unreal" (Youtube):

Made Manifest

MADE MANIFEST

Solo Exhibition - August 1-31

Oak Park Public Library

My core objective with this exhibition is not to present "paintings" but to show an array of ideas. I see every 'object' I make as an opportunity to clarify my vision. Specific applications of paint or technique are lower in my priorities of process, because my interest in expressing my ideas come first. That being said, I'm offering a twist on different materials, such as my use of gold and silver leaf, various shades of glitter, and embossing powder. These materials are typically considered as craft and design mediums, but my interpretation of these materials offers opportunities to distort preconceptions. It's apparent that I'm in love with a specific color green, which has many connotations to me. My usage of found imagery is also a primary interest. The appropriation of imagery is an additional meaning to me. Many people ask me if I drew the images (I did not), but they reiterate a specific theme and expression I'm trying to convey. 

Made Manifest is my first solo exhibition. In planning the works I'm showing I wanted to express my interest in narrative, spacial effects on two-dimensional surfaces, and to  challenge myself to get more exposure as a working artist. It's been a thrilling and an arduous process preparing for this show and I'm very excited to continue my practice and share more of my ideas and visions in the future.

The show will be on display for the entire month of August. The opening reception will be on Saturday, August 6 (2 to 4PM).