Henry Darger, “Young Striped Blengen Female, Boy King Islands,” watercolor and pencil on paper (image copyright Kiyoko Lerner)
Andrew Edlin Gallery, 134 Tenth Ave., through October 23, free, 212-206-9723
American Folk Art Museum, 45 West 53rd St., Tuesday – Sunday through October 24, $8-$12 (free Fridays after 5:30), 212-265-1040
www.edlingallery.com
www.folkartmuseum.org
We’ve seen numerous Henry Darger exhibits and documentaries over the last ten years or so, but we were shocked when we encountered the latest show at the Andrew Edlin Gallery in Chelsea. Curator Valérie Rousseau has put together a small but rousing collection of early collages and drawings by the reclusive outsider artist who created the wildly bizarre fifteen-thousand-page illustrated manuscript 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. While several large, horizontal paintings of the Vivian Girls — young female warriors with little penises — might be familiar to Darger enthusiasts, portraits of such military leaders as General Jack Ambrose and General Great Heart, watercolors on paper amateurly mounted on carboard (or painted directly on cardboard), are more likely to be new and quite surprising, as is a picture of a Dr. Doolittle-like horned animal called a young striped Blengen female and the human-plant creatures that populate “At Jennie Richee though storm rages on they steal towards Manley Headquarters. “The exhibit also features Western images of men with rifles on horseback and various structures either in the background or right up front. A number of character positions are repeated or reversed from picture to picture, indicating Darger’s usage of found images that he traced, primarily from newspapers and magazine ads.
Henry Darger, Untitled (“In Times Like These…”), crayon, coloring book page, and collage on Kodak board, midtwentieth century (gift of Kiyoko Lerner)
The show at Andrew Edlin is a must-see for Darger fanatics; another treat is “The Private Collection of Henry Darger,” which has been extended through October 24 at the American Folk Art Museum. Darger filled his Chicago apartment with myriad clippings and pages from all sorts of sources, putting them up anywhere and everywhere he could, immersing himself in this pseudo-world he created in his mind. He made collages out of many of these pieces of paper, painting over them and even placing stamps around them like borders. As always, Darger’s work and the pictures he collected walk a fine line between art and perversion; his collection of images of young girls can be equally disturbing and fascinating.