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Art Dargerism: Contemporary Artists and Henry Darger

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The American Folk Art Museum is home to the world's largest collection of work by Henry Darger, the Chicago recluse and compiler of a 15,000-page chronicle of intergalactic war. Hundreds of watercolored drawings accompany the tale, begun around 1930 and worked on until his death. In them, the often-undressed child heroines of Abbiennia, the Vivian Girls, defend their country against enslavement by the evil Glandelinian people. Dargerism establishes this eccentric genius' pervasive influence on contemporary art by showcasing 11 artists alongside his own drawings. In the process, the exhibition assembles an irresistible anti-canon of young artists seeking an alternative to the sanitary, concept-laden, New York aesthetic.

– Adam Eaker

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