5 Art Documentaries in 5 Days: Day Two by Deirdree Prudence

In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)

Director: Jessica Yu

     Henry Darger died in 1973 & only upon his death did anyone fall into the Realms of the Unreal, the fascinating secret world of an orphan boy turned reclusive janitor.  Stacks and stacks of thousands of pages of writing, journals, an autobiography, a 15, 000 page novel, hundreds of paintings, many of them over 10 feet long and double sided. A self-taught artist who built his mixed media creations out of coloring books and children’s magazines, his Vivian Girls were his life and a fascinating case study into this mysterious artist who’s outsider leanings went on to inspire and shock la nouvelle génération d'enfants de l'extérieur.  

     Bringing his children to life, the war scenes, the butterfly girls with male genitalia, the paintings animated, this film is superb in immersing the viewer into the world of the Vivian Girls and into the mind frame of the strange madness and lovely artist Henry Darger himself.