Joash Woodrow. An artist who's story is not unlike that of Henry Darger - a recluse who's lifetime of work has only recently been discovered. But unlike Darger, Woodrow was British, and a trained artist who studied alongside Frank Auerbach and Peter Blake. And he's still alive. Now this pensioner, who's lifetime of painting, drawing and sculpture was discovered by accident while his family were halfway through incinerating it, is being called "one of the great British artists of the 20th Century" and the price of his paintings, which call to mind Picasso, Soutine and Rouault, are skyrocketing. Aged 77, and confined to a nursing home, he is unwilling to ever paint again or discuss his art, and it is unclear if he is enjoying the benefits of his belated success.
posted by fire&wings on Mar 28, 2005 - 19 comments

The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, as caused by the Child Slave Rebellion.

The story recounts the wars between nations on an enormous and unnamed planet, of which Earth is a moon. The conflict is provoked by the Glandelinians, who practice child enslavement. After hundreds of ferocious battles, the good Christian nation of Abbiennia forces the 'haughty' Glandelinians to give up their barbarous ways. The heroines of Darger's history are the seven Vivian sisters, Abbiennian princesses. They are aided in their struggles by a panoply of heroes, who are sometimes the author's alter-egos. The battles are full of vivid incident: charging armies, ominous captures, alarms and explosions, the appearances of demons and dragons.

Details within.
posted by y2karl on Jan 25, 2002 - 19 comments