After spectacularly successful engagements at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Tim Burton arrives at TIFF Bell Lightbox with a new look: a special commission created especially for the gallery windows (which is visible from King Street) and an entirely revamped exhibition design. More than 700 items form the core of the show, which traces Burton’s development as a major creative force from his earliest drawings and paintings to the sophisticated elements he created for some of the world’s most treasured films.
The exhibition contemplates Burton’s career as a director, producer, writer and concept artist for live-action and animated films, along with his work as a fiction writer, photographer and illustrator.
Walking through the exhibition instantly brought me back to my childhood. The sections on Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands reminded me of the first few films I saw as a child that I really felt were “weird and outside of the box.” My brain actually started to hurt as my eyes darted from one meticulously drawn cartoon and sketch to the next. Tim’s attention to detail is often overwhelming. The exhibit gave me a refreshed respect for the artistry that is Tim Burton and also made me want to run home and watch all of his films again.
I thought it was very cute that Oliver & Bonacini’s LUMA restaurant inside the TIFF building had a special menu designed to celebrate Tim Burton’s favorite films. Cheers to bizzare-oh cinema!
