I thought the perfect way to kick off October and the Halloween season was to check out the Tim Burton exhibition at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibit has been open since May, but I knew it would be so much more fun if I attended October 1st so I could have a proper, spectacular kick-off to the spooky season!
Mister Spooky and I arrived at the museum on a warm Saturday morning (it still feels like summer in SoCal!) and quickly purchased our tickets with ghoulish glee. Since we got there fairly early, there was no wait, though the actual exhibit was a bit crowded. I didn't care though, I was just in awe of all the amazing Burton art around me! Mister Spooky probably got quite sick of me squealing like a schoolgirl and grinning ear-to-ear every time we entered a different room!
Tim Burton's "Balloon Boy" at LACMA
From the LACMA site:
Tim Burton was born in Burbank in 1958. After studying at the
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), he worked as an animator at
the Walt Disney Studios before breaking out on his own. Taking
inspiration from popular culture, fairy tales and traditions of the
gothic, Burton has reinvented Hollywood genre filmmaking as an
expression of a personal vision.
The exhibition brings together over 700 drawings, paintings,
photographs, moving-image works, storyboards, puppets, concept artworks,
maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera, including art from a
number of unrealized and little-known personal projects. Many of these
objects come from the artist's own archive, as well as from studio
archives and private collections of Burton's collaborators. Hundreds of
never-before-exhibited artworks and sketches will be joined by a
selection of film posters accompanied by music composed for the
exhibition by Burton's longtime collaborator Danny Elfman.
We spent about an hour to an hour in a half wandering through the exhibit (and doubling back and re-wandering through again!). I loved looking at all of Burton's handwritten notes, like the one detailing the plot to
Beetlejuice! I also loved all the puppets and maquettes they had on display from his various films...I wish I could take them all home with me! The highlight of the show was the art from a Burton project that never came to fruition, called
Trick or Treat (I REALLY wish they would make this!). I hoped they would be selling prints of these works, but no luck!
Tim Burton - untitled (Trick or Treat)
This was a well curated exhibit that showed Burton's versatile yet signature style and covered the majority of his projects! I left a happy camper (and I couldn't resist picking up a few things from the gift shop) and if you adore Tim Burton or are just in the mood for something spooky this October, I highly encourage you to attend this special exhibit! It's only on through October 31st, so make sure to go soon!
And I highly recommend getting there early, as the exhibit fills up fast and there can be a pretty long wait to get in if you show up mid-day.
Check out some pics of the exhibit below (you were not allowed to take photos in the exhibit, so these are from around the web and I don't claim ownership of them):
Tim Burton's Glow in the Dark Room!
One of my favorite Tim Burton pieces - untitled (Blue Girl)
Batman Returns / Edward Scissorhands room
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Nightmare Before Christmas Skellington expressions
Corpse Bride puppet
Creepy crawlies
Edward Scissorhands costume
Handwritten poem
Vincent maquettes
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Frankenweenie maquettes
Sleepy Hollow scarecrow
My new poster!
