Henry Darger is one of the more notable creators of outsider art. When living in Chicago as an adult, Darger went to church every day, worked as a janitor, and generally kept to himself. On the side, he wrote a 15,143-page illustrated fantasy, The Story of the Vivian Girls, which wasn’t discovered until after his death. It’s just fascinating on so many levels.
Here a longer profile of Darger at Salon, and a nice little essay with links to a great collection of the artwork and other resources. Last year, PBS featured a documentary and a tour of his work. And don’t forget to stop by and see the Flickr photos tagged with “Darger”.