Since his 1973 death in 1973 and the discovery of his massive opus, and especially since the 1990s, there have been many references in [[popular culture]] to Darger's work—references by other [[visual artists]] (including, but not limited to, artists of [[comics]] and [[graphic novels]]); numerous songs by artists from [[Snakefinger]] (one of the earliest, in 1979) to [[Natalie Merchant]] (on her 2001 [[album]] ''Motherland''); a 1999 book-length poem, ''Girls on the Run'', by [[John Ashbery]]; and a 2004 [[multimedia]] piece by [[choreography|choreographer]] Pat Graney incorporating Darger images. These artists have variously drawn from and responded to Darger's artistic style, his themes (especially the Vivian Girls, the young heroines of Darger's massive illustrated novel), and the events in his life.
[[Jessica Yu]]'s 2004 [[documentary]] ''[[In the Realms of the Unreal]]'' details Darger's life and artworks.
