Entrance to MoMA's Special Exhibitions Gallery; Blue Girl with Wine, 1997
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York presents Tim Burton, a major retrospective including previously unseen drawings and moving image works, plus seven new pieces created specifically for the exhibition.
Visitors enter the exhibition through the open mouth of a monster inspired by Burton’s unrealized film project Trick or Treat from 1980. The monster’s red-carpeted tongue leads to a corridor lined floor to ceiling with Burton’s signature black-and-white stripes, and a presentation of Burton’s The World of Stainboy Internet series plays on six large monitors.
Entrance to MoMA's Special Exhibitions Gallery; Untitled (Trick or Treat), 1980
Tim Burton’s career is explored as both as a director and concept artist for live-action and animated films, and as an artist, illustrator, photographer, and writer. Over 700 examples of sketchbooks, concept art, drawings, paintings, photographs, and a selection of his amateur films are on show.
Carousel, 2009; Three Creatures, 2009
The new pieces created for the exhibition including an animatronic Robot Boy sculpture, based on a character from Burton’s 1997 children’s book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories, and hanging from the ceiling, a revolving, multimedia, black-light carousel installation. Three original Burton “creature” sculptures are also present.
Untitled (The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories), 1982–1984; Robot Boy, 2009
In addition, in MomA’s sculpture garden stands a precise replica of a deer-shaped topiary from Edward Scissorhands.
Untitled (Edward Scissorhands), 1990; Replica of Deer Topiary in Edward Scissorhands, 2009
The exhibition is organized in three sections, each in relation to Burbank, California, where Burton grew up and which provided the inspiration for much of his early work. These works reflect Burton’s feelings of adolescent alienation from small-town life, and illustrate how he turned to the strength of his imagination as consolation.
Items chronicle a youth spent compiling lists of fantastic films, organizing film series, and making short action films. These items reflect Burton’s burgeoning interest in classic American horror movies, 1950s science fiction, and Japanese monster culture, all of which offered relief from the boredom of his Burbank childhood.
Untitled (The World of Stainboy), 2000; Untitled (Ramone), 1980-1990
Burton’s talent matured during two years of study at CalArts and four years working as an animator at The Walt Disney Studios. Among the most substantial output from this period is a series of over 50 cartoons Burton drew in pencil on animation registration paper between 1980 and 1986, which largely served as a diversion for the apprentice artist from his routine animation work at Disney.
Untitled (Trick or Treat), 1980; Untitled (Romeo and Juliet), 1981–1984
On display are pen-and-ink drawings from unrealized projects such as Trick or Treat, Romeo and Juliet (1980-84), and Little Dead Riding Hood (1981), as well as concept art and a handmade prop from Hansel and Gretel, taken from Burton’s little-known adaptation of Hansel and Gretel, a work which was commissioned by The Walt Disney Company and broadcast only once in October 1983 on Disney’s newly launched cable channel.
Tim Burton continues at The Museum of Modern Art until April 26 2010.
Image credits top to bottom left to right: 1 & 3 photo Michael Locasiano, all other images (c) 2009 Tim Burton, 5, 8 & 10 photo Tom Mikawa, 6 photo Jason Mandella
