ARTS REVIEW: TIM BURTON AT LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART

 

Through the fusing of “popular culture, fairy tales, and traditions of the gothic,” Mr. Burton’s films have captivated millions of people for more than four decades now. In using cinema as the ultimate form of personal expression, the LACMA exhibition and retrospective finally gives film connoisseurs some perspective of what went on in Mr. Burton’s head as he pushed the limits of what could be seen on the silver screen.

 

While moviegoers could only piece together the true spirit of Burton by analyzing his body of work over a period of time or a few elaborately insightful DVD or Blu-ray commentaries, LACMA’s Tim Burton exhibition is essentially a 700-work display functioning as the inner workings of a creative mastermind and eccentric genius.

 

Mr. Burton himself explained how his own mind and head became the ultimate living smorgasbord of a working art exhibition. 

 

“Growing up in Burbank, there wasn’t much of a museum culture. I never visited one until I was a teenager (unless you count the Hollywood Wax Museum). I occupied my time going to see monster movies, watching television, drawing, and playing in the local cemetery,” Mr. Burton explained in a statement. “Later, when I did start frequenting museums, I was struck by how similar the vibe was to the cemetery. Not in a morbid way, but both have a quiet, introspective, yet electrifying atmosphere. So all these years later, to have this exhibition, to be showing major things -- some of which weren’t meant to ever be seen or are just pieces of the larger picture -- is very special to me.”

 

The special exhibition -- which was organized by LACMA Assistant Curator Ron Magliozzi, along with Jenny He (curatorial assistant) and Rajendra Roy (from The Museum of Modern Art) -- features about “700 drawings, paintings, photographs, film and video works, storyboards, puppets, concept artworks, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera.”

 

Throughout the entire exhibition, there is essentially something to see for anyone who claims to even be a casual fan of Mr. Burton, whether it be the puppets depicting the vivid yet lifeless characters of The Corpse Bride, the gothic wears and masks of the Batman series of Michael Keaton fame, the elaborately robotic scissor limbs of Edward Scissorhands, or the animatronic “Robot Boy” from Mr. Burton’s 1997 children’s book, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories.

 

Just the same, the storyboards and seemingly disorderly yet highly functional scrapbook-style notes capturing the inner workings of Mr. Burton’s million-mile-per-hour mind provides a most unique storytelling device that puts even the greatest, most visual time-lapse photos to shame.

 

A scribble here, a jot there, and strange but familiar doodles everywhere else, the Tim Burton exhibition experience at LACMA can best be described by two words bearing striking resemblance to a similar sounding but slightly tweaked moniker of a briefly popular hip-hop group: organized confusion.

 

Or maybe confused organization would be better?

 

 

Whatever your ultimate pronoun or adjective may be the moment you depart through the gift shop, one thing is for certain: unless you either never heard of Tim Burton or completely despise his work, it is difficult, neigh impossible, to not be in awe by the substantially large collection of “never-before-exhibited drawings, paintings, sculptures, and sketchbooks” so intricately combined with gripping movie posters and the ultimate mood music (composed, of course, by Danny Elfman).

 

The Tim Burton exhibition essentially “traces the evolution of Burton’s creative practices,” capturing the not-so-linear timeline of the filmmaker’s mental growth from childhood fascinations of grisly images to matured mastery of mind-bending visuals.

 

Admission to the Tim Burton exhibition, which runs through October 31st, is $20 per person; LACMA Members are entitled to two free tickets, while children under the age of 17 are also admissible at no charge. For group ticket sales, e-mail LACMA at groupsales@lacma.org, or call at (323) 857-6010.

 

Also, several of Mr. Burton’s films will be screening at LACMA, including Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Beetlejuice, The Corpse Bride, Mars Attacks!, Batman, Batman Returns, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Sweeney Todd, Sleepy Hollow, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Alice in Wonderland.

 

Nine of Mr. Burton’s films will be screened as part of the “Saturday Monster Matinees” series, which runs between July 2nd and August 20th and features titles such as The Thing, Fantastic Voyage, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Horror of Dracula, among others.