Tim Burton is lauded as being one of the most creative forces in Hollywood. His films have a distinct style that sets them apart, and characterizes Burton as a stand out director. Now, his work is being moved from the big screen onto the walls of the Museum of Modern Art.
In an exhibit opening Sunday and running through April, MoMa will have on display film memorabilia, movie posters, and drawings by Burton– some going as far back as his childhood. The exhibit will also include a film series showing Burton’s feature and short films, along with movies that influenced him.
This is the largest exhibit MoMa has ever put on that displays a retrospective view of the works of a filmmaker. At a press conference for the exhibit, Burton thanked “everybody that raided my closets” to find the material for the exhibit, and described the process of collecting work, and making sense of his life from that work, to be “a very positive experience.”
According to MoMa’s assistant curator, Ron Magliozzi, the museum first got the idea for the exhibit in 2005, and began collecting materials in 2008. Among some of the pieces they gathered are puppets from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman masks, and an Edward Scissorhands statue. Along with these, the exhibit also includes Burton’s sketchbooks, concept art, drawings, paintings, photographs and amateur films.
During the press conference for the exhibit, Burton briefly mentioned his current project, Alice in Wonderland. According to the director, “I’m still working on it. I got a lot to do in a short period of time. … I shouldn’t even be here.” He also revealed his reason for tackling the beloved story to be that he has never seen film adaptations of Alice that he really liked.
The exhibit is being largely sponsored by Syfy Network, whose president, David Howe, called Burton “a role model…and a guru” for the network. Howe feels that no artist greater exemplifies Syfy’s goal of encouraging people to “imagine greater.”
The exhibit begins with Burton’s childhood in Burbank and spans to his most recent work, and also focuses on Burton’s years at the California Institute of the Arts and his time as an animator at Disney.
