After foolishly not buying tickets in advance several decades ago for Tim Burton’s retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, I finally made it there yesterday. I had been dying to visit, not least because my fiancé is in love with Tim Burton. Easter Sunday, as it turns out, is an incredibly popular museum date, although probably not more than most Sundays. Needless to say, MoMA was rather crowded, but as we were on a mission, Jim and I patiently endured the other crowded exhibits until our 2:30 ticket time. (I will most likely be posting about the Picasso print exhibit and Marina Abramavic’s The Artist is Present at a later date.)
One of the major positive things I had heard about the Tim Burton show before going was its ability to bring a new crowd of museum-goers in. After visiting, I believe this is entirely true, based on the variety of people I encountered. There were young children, excited to see their favorite Nightmare Before Christmas characters up close, old men happily seated cross-legged on the floor to watch Burton’s 1970’s version of Hansel and Gretel, and my fiancé Jim who just had to go back one more time to see Oogie Boogie before we left.
A charming aspect of the show was its inclusion of notes from Burton starting back in high school all the way up through his more recent projects. There was a children’s book Burton wrote back in 1958 which he sent to a publisher, attempting to get his work out there. MoMA displayed several pages from the book, complete with drawings and a Seuss-like story, as well as Burton’s letter to the publisher and their response to him. The book was never published, but whoever received Burton’s book was kind enough to write helpful comments on how to improve his work. It was the sort of behind-the-scenes information you hardly ever get from artists. I was just amazed at the quantity of material Burton has produced over his lifetime and how much of it he has kept. Most of the drawings, writings, and paintings have never been shared before, making the show a true retrospective.
I hate to criticize a show which I truly did enjoy, but I really wish the exhibition was housed in a larger space. The design of the exhibit weaves through Tim Burton’s life, beginning with his high school years and leading up to Alice in Wonderland. It is a clever display, which puts groups of related pieces near one another, rather than spacing things out the way art often is in museums. The problem was that the overall display space was small for this kind of arrangement, given the number of people in attendance. The show has been sold out every weekend for eternity, allowing roughly fifty (this is an estimate based purely on my observation, not on fact) new visitors in each hour. The flow gets clogged, particularly around the text, which takes a decent amount of time to read. As a result, I found myself passing over areas I might have really enjoyed because I wasn’t willing to stand in a clump of strangers. MoMA has another special exhibit space on the 6th floor, and although it is currently being used for Marina Abramavic, I think its size would have allowed visitors to flow a bit more easily.
That being said, MoMA used their space effectively. I loved the mouth-shaped entrance, which leads to a long hallway where visitors can sit watching episodes of a TV show Burton created. There is also a black-lit room with a number of glow in the dark oil and acrylic paintings on black velvet, which I especially enjoyed. This is where we found Oogie Boogie as well. Another room has costumes from many of Burton’s live action films, including a full size recreation of Edward Scissorhands, the cape from Sleepy Hollow, Catwoman’s suit, and a variety of helmets from a number of films. Another display included several of the charred singers from the beginning of Charlie and Chocolate Factory, when Willy Wonka’s display catches on fire. There was a whole display case and wall for the Nightmare Before Christmas. This included quite a few of the main characters and the many heads of Jack Skellington, recreating all of his facial expressions. The story boards were fascinating as they demonstrated the collaborative effort that Tim Burton’s films have become. Whereas his early work was a solo operation, Burton has become an industry and his work has expanded accordingly.
If you love Tim Burton, there are still a few weeks left at MoMA. Suck up the crowds and go! Chances are, this opportunity will not present itself again for quite a while.
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Tim Burton has a unique style when making his movie. I love Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands.`”-
Hi. I wish I was there, it sounded fun. Nobody ever does anything in Wyoming. And If they do, it’s in Casper, 1,597 (or something) miles away. I live in the little-known capital, cheyenne.But Tim was good (except for that shrunkin head moment).
Thanks for posting and sharing with all – Cheers
Tim Burton is an eccentric director in my opinion but he has his own unique style~:,
Tim Burton is just a very talented director and i love all his works’,-
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