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When I first discovered Ian Brownlee, I found his images to be penetrating – much like a song you wake up singing the next day. The images from Brownlee’s “American Myths” series seem to remain fixed in my mind. These sometimes Darger-esque images have a sweet and gentle surface that appears to hide a deeper, stranger, perhaps darker evocation.

“Elisha Mitchell’s Funeral” Ian Brownlee, acrylic on canvas, 60×48, 2009

Brownlee uses the term “myth” in it’s widest sense. I had an opportunity to ask Brownlee about his work. He explained “I’ve spent a lot of time in in southeast and the west, studying the land and its history. Mythology refers not just to stories but to whole mindsets and outlooks full of unquestioned assumptions. Some of the works reference well-known myths, others point out and make fun of those unquestioned assumptions. Others are just strange and funny, but you find that in mythology too.”

“The works on paper from the American Myths series were definitely inspired by Henry Darger. I began the series as large paintings on canvas, painted somewhat realistically. But then looking back at my sketches, they seemed to have a freshness that was missing in the larger pieces. So I decided to do something Darger-esque with them. Those pieces are smaller, they’re on paper, and they rely on outline. I’m now in the process of painting larger versions of some of them.”

“Elisha Mitchell‘s Funeral” (pictured above) relates to an interesting historical figure. Professor Elisha Mitchell, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was one of the first white men to discover the great and mysterious “Black Mountains” of North Carolina rich with dark balsam forests, reminiscent of the last ice age. Though native feet had tread these mountains for 15,000 years, the region was still considered “undiscovered” by the “new world”.

The brave yet tragic tale involves a great dispute between two men over which peaks were highest and who discovered them first. Mitchell made daring journeys often climbing on his hands and knees through miles of tunnel like, 3 foot high black bear trails through dense thickets up steep and slippery slopes in order to reach and measure the peaks. Ultimately, Elisha Mitchell lost his life in the effort to prove his claims. On June 27, 1857 at approximately 8:19 PM Elisha Mitchell slipped on a rocky ledge above a 20 ft waterfall (now called Mitchell Falls) and fell to his death. He hit his head as he fell and drowned in the deep cold pool below. But, Mitchell had successfully measured the highest peak east of the Rockies, and the mountain now bares his name.

Brownlee’s clean and simple imagery evokes for us the not so clean, and not so simple landscape of “American Myths”.

“Special Delivery” Ian Brownlee, acrylic on paper, 8×10, 2007

“Dying Words” Ian Brownlee, acrylic on paper, 22×30, 2007

Artist Ian Brownlee, Asheville, NC

More:
IanBrownlee.us
WNC Magazine article on Ian Brownlee
Gallery Minerva – Ian Brownlee

Considering the work of Henry Darger, it strikes me that we live in a world full of secrets.  Occasionally, one gets out.

It was on the day after his birthday, and the last day of his life, that the reclusive hospital janitor’s extraordinary secret life was discovered…

Illustration from The Story of the Vivian Girls by Henry Darger (Click to enlarge)

Henry Darger was born in 1892, and after his parents died at a young age, he was raised in an “Asylum for Feeble Minded Children”.  At the asylum he was subject to harsh punishments and forced labor and ultimately escaped a year before the asylum was investigated for abuse.  Once free, he found work as a janitor, attended daily Catholic Mass and lived a quiet solitary life in which almost no one knew him or noticed him.

On April 13th, 1973, the last day of Henry Darger’s life, landlord (and accomplished photographer), Nathan Lerner opened the door to the small second story Chicago apartment where Darger had lived in solitude for 40 years.  At that time, Darger had been moved to the St. Augustine Mission because of his failing health.  Among Darger’s personal affects, Lerner uncovered several astounding works of literature and hundreds of works of art, all created in secret by Henry Darger.
Among these were:

• a 15,000 page work of fantasy fiction called The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion;
• a 5,000 page autobiography entitled The History of my Life;
• a 10-year daily weather journal;
• assorted diaries;
• a 10,000 page novel entitled Crazy House
• Several hundred original illustrations and water color paintings depicting the plight of young children against oppressive and evil adults.

Darger’s images were often violent, even brutal, displaying the torture and murder of the children in his stories.  They can also be very colorful, playful, sincere and innocent.  Darger surely drew upon his life experiences in the asylum.  His unique style has given rise to the term “Dargerism”.  The American Folk Art Museum calls Darger “one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century”.

Nathan Lerner, Darger’s landlord, “was inextricably bound up in the history of visual culture in Chicago” (according to the New York Times), and instantly recognized the artistic merit of Darger’s compositions.  It was a truly remarkable coincidence that someone, such as Lerner, should be the first to see Darger’s secret works.  Under most other circumstances all of his artwork and stories would surely have been lost forever.  Nathan Lerner, and his wife Kiyoko, gained the rights to Darger’s estate and have brought the world’s attention to it.  Since Lerner’s discovery, Darger’s artwork has achieved wide acclaim as  “outsider art“.  His stories and paintings (and mental status) have become the subject of books and documentary films.

In The Story of The Vivian Girls, we come to learn that the Earth is actually orbiting a larger planet, much as the moon orbits the Earth.  It is upon this larger world that Darger’s story takes place.  I believe that for Darger, the inner fantasy world was larger than his reality, and his reality simply orbited this other, more important fantasy world.  In Darger’s world, abused children are avenged and innocence conquers all.

Darger’s body now rests in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois, in a plot called “The Old People of the Little Sisters of the Poor Plot.” Darger’s modest headstone is inscribed “Artist” and “Protector of Children.”

Several examples of Darger’s larger works (click to enlarge):

More:
Henry Darger – American Folk Art Museum
In the Realms of the Unreal – Documentary Trailer
In the Realms of the Unreal – Part 1 on PBS
Vivian Girls Tattoo on The Awesome Summer Journal

Also, take a look at these Darger-inspired works by Ian Brownlee, here on SpillSpace

ash to ash ~ dust to dust

Texas “dirty car artist” Scott Wade (pictured here recreating Dutch master, Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”) has found an artistic use for the ever present dust collecting on his car. He has recieved a good bit of notoriety for his creations which wash away with tomorrows rain.

“I don’t do this to try and create immortal works of art” says Wade. “We aren’t going to be around forever, and nothing we do is going to last forever as much as we’d like it to. We need to learn to let go of that I think, and just enjoy what’s here.”

When asked which of his works is his favorite, Wade replies “the next one!”

Later this year, Scott will be creating a special piece for the Atlanta Arts Festival. Correction: Scott Wade created a special piece for the Atlanta Arts Festival in 2008.

If you liked this, you might like: Joshua Allen Harris, Your Art is Trash

More:
DirtyCarArt.com

Julie Heffernan describes the process for her artistic inspiration:

“Before I’m actually sleeping, as I relax and get out of the conscious mind, pictures will flood into my head, kind of like a movie,” Heffernan explains. “It’s not like daydreaming or remembering. They’re spontaneous pictures that I just sit back and watch. And then I’ll fall asleep. When I wake up, it’s at that point where the images start to stream in, and out of those I’ll usually ‘see’ something.”

The first time I saw Julie Heffernan’s work was in 2004. My wife and I spontaneously decided to run through a local museum despite the approach of the closing hour. What followed I’ll never forget. I had not yet heard of Julie Heffernan.  When I entered the exhibit room I became entrance by “Everything That Rises”.  The image instantly connected with me.  Varieties of birds emanate from a hovering fire over a chandelier amidst falling berries.  All of this set within a greek revivalist surrounding.  It was love at first sight for me.  I wont interpret a meaning, I will leave that to the individual observer.  Her work combines realism with fantasy, allegory, portraiture, and still life. Yet all these elements in are in a natural balance that is both innately pleasing and also mysterious.

All images can be clicked to enlarge.  Enjoy!

More Julie Heffernan:

Artnet

Lux

Insight

Wiki