Haley Webb

LACMA is currently running the greatest exhibit they have ever run in their history of being founded. And I am clearly in no way biased.

The exhibit is a veritable smörgåsbord of all of Tim Burton’s wonderful creations over the years. It varies from sketches, to full on paintings, to sculptures, to the actual figures used in a lot of his stop-motion films. And it. is. GLORIOUS! I’ve been looking forward to it coming to Los Angeles ever since I heard it was premiering at MOMA in NY, which was about 2 years ago. Being a LACMA member, I was able to attend the early previews of it, naively thinking there wouldn’t be that many people in attendance. Needless to say, I was very wrong. It was packed, but it didn’t take away from my enjoying the space at all. Mostly because of the way LACMA has it set up.

There are about 3-4 different rooms displaying all of the art, and it’s spread out enough to where every turn there is something new to see. You walk in on a red carpet that leads you through a large mouth of a demonic, crazy-haired creature designed by Sir Burton, and it feels so natural. You are met with the typical brief summary of who he is an artist + a short biography, and off you go into the world they put together for you. The rooms are chronologically dedicated to all the different phases of his career. They are painted vibrant colors, mostly a deep delicious red, and are brilliantly set up so it feels like your cruising through Tim Burton’s actual brain, each with their own memories, creations, and evolutions. One of my personal favorite things, and I regretfully cannot find a picture of it, was a framed typewritten letter by CBS critiquing his script + outline of his series Family Dog. It says something along the lines of, “We love it, but … does it have to be that dark?” Which made me break the reverence + laugh out loud.

They have one particular room which connects you to two larger ones, that is solely lit with black lights. It’s blocked off my two black velvet curtains, and as soon as you go in, you close your mouth so as not to blind people. In the center of the room, is a little carousel with different creatures rotating, as well as some original paintings on the wall. You’re then led to a room where you can see the original masks from Batman, and my personal favorite, Edward Scissorhands’ costume.

I am absolutely in love with Tim Burton and all he creates. There are certainly people who don’t “get” his stuff, but I am on the opposite end of said fellows. His creativity + depth really ring true for me, and getting to see a lot of his otherwise unpublished work was a dream come true, and really inspiring. I loved seeing his early short films that he made by himself (a young Tim Burton has an uncanny resemblance to Jason Schwartzman, by the way), and being bombarded with that much creativity can’t help but make one inspired. I used to read The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories to my niece when she was little, and she just ate it up. So, naturally, I bought her some Tragic Toys for her birthday.

I commend LACMA on the incredible time they took on the exhibit, it truly surpassed my wildest expectations. If you are in the Los Angeles area, you would be remiss to bypass this incredible opportunity. But don’t worry, it runs until October! Here are a few more snippets from the show. Pictures weren’t allowed, but I was able to find these on the spiderwebz. All rights reserved to all takers of said photographs!