Tim Burton Exhibit Review

burtonmain1 0 Tim Burton Exhibit Review

The Tim Burton Exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has been on display for about 4 months now and I finally had the chance to see it over the weekend.  I was excited to hear that the original exhibit from New York MOMA was going to make an appearance in So Cal.  For some reason I kept pushing it off, until a friend finally invited on Sunday.  The tickets are $20 per person but it’s worth every penny and then some.  The exhibit will run until October 31, 2011 so you still have time to check it out.

I thought the exhibit was going to be small but it took us about 2.5 hours to check out the work of the artist/director that introduced me to my first superhero movie, Batman (1989). The gallery starts off with misc work from Burton ranging from concept sketches of the unfinished project, Superman Returns with Nicolas Cage to Corpse Bride.  Then it takes you to his high school years as he works for the city of Burbank.  This was my favorite part of the exhibit because it gave me an idea  how much creativity and imagination Burton has.  What I realized was that he wasn’t only great in art but he was really witty.  He had an awesome sense of humor and even brainstormed to make his art funny.  Now I see where his weird of sense of humor comes from.

tim burton exhibit Tim Burton Exhibit Review

This was the only picture that was taken at the exhibit because LACMA didn’t allow cameras inside.  The rest of the images are courtesy of LACMA.

The next room showcases Burton’s art from college.  This includes videos and some thought provoking sketches, including a Halloween series.  The best one had to be a kid and a monster both wearing costumes trick or treating.  Many artists are good at drawing and painting but what separates Burton is that there’s always depth behind his work.  It’ll make you think twice (or more) what he’s trying to convey.  He uses different sizes of paper to make a point but the composition is always balanced.  Some of his art starts off happy but ends in a sad note.

Next up are 2 rooms full of props, costumes and concept sketches from movies.   There’s one section dedicated just to Nightmare Before Christmas including maquettes (statues used for reference for animation).  There’s also a cool display of different fac ial expressions of Jack Skellington.  While there were some Batman items on display, I wish there was more.  The exhibit showcased 3 masks from the Caped Crusader as well as concept art from Batman returns.  This includes Penguin and the circus gang.  There’s also a costume from Edward Scissorhands and sketches.

MARSAttacks watercolor800 Tim Burton Exhibit Review

The last part of the exhibit is Burton’s work from his children’s book, The Melancholy of Oyster Boy.  By this time, I was already exhausted from seeing so much creative art that it wasn’t registering into my brain anymore.  It was an overload.

There’s a Tim Burton shop as we exited.  There were some cool items but it was overpriced ($26 for a figure, $20 for a poster) so I didn’t buy anything.

RomeoJuliet penandink800 Tim Burton Exhibit Review

Overall, this was the most informative and enjoyable museum experience I’ve attended.  I probably care more about this exhibit than any other because I always admired Burton.  His recent movies might’ve been bad like “Alice In Wonderland” and “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory” but I still watched them because his artwork is zany and unique.  With this gallery, I appreciate his work even more because it shows Burton can work on different mediums including movies, illustrations, commercials and make them appealling.

Grade: A+

pixel Tim Burton Exhibit Review

More fun articles: