Tim Burton Exhibit at the MoMA

If you haven’t yet made it, April 26th is your deadline to catch the MoMA’s exhibit showcasing Tim Burton’s monumental contribution to animation art.  But before you book your plane tickets, reserve a hotel room, and rush off to museum’s ticket counter to gain entry, you must keep one thing in mind: It’s nearly impossible to walk through the door on the day of your visit and get a ticket.

Entrance to the Tim Burton Exhibit at MoMA NYC

I found out the hard way that this exhibit is so popular that you must order and print tickets ahead of time online to avoid the never-ending lines and inevitable disappointment of being turned away.  In fact, these timed tickets are not only suggested by MoMA staff on weekdays but required on all weekends and holidays.  This approach guarantees entrance at the time designated on the ticket at no extra charge.

Now the Fun Stuff!  Once you’ve made it through, you’ll immediately realize that you’ve entered a treasure trove of Burton’s inspirational work.  A mother lode of bold expression spans four floors chock full of treasures handpicked by MoMA curators who gained entry to Burton’s London home and had free reign of everything inside.  All his drawers, cabinets and boxes were sorted and the best were gathered and put on display.

Enter through a hallway lined with full The World of Stainboy episodes that is reminiscent of the hallway of death from Beetle Juice.  This leads to a dimly lit room flooded in blacklight illuminating some of his paintings along with a carousel on display.

Subsequent exhibits trace his entire creative timeline from early childhood drawings to his mature and most daring work in film.  You also get the opportunity to view over seven hundred never-before-seen drawings, paintings, photographs, moving image works, concept art, storyboards, puppets, costumes, and cinematic ephemera from such films as Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, Mars Attacks!, Ed Wood, and Beetlejuice.

My favorite is a book Burton wrote as a teenager which is on display along with his pitch letter to Disney and their subsequent letter of rejection.  In it, a series of paintings and drawings about clowns is portrayed along with a scene showcasing a blue and white Mickey Mouse-type monster eating creativity and defecating brown boxes.

Best of all, it’s not just the commercially popular works that are showcased.  Samples from little-known personal projects reveal his talents beyond illustration ranging from photography to writing yet always with the common Pop Surrealism theme.  Look out for the following films depending on when you visit: Tim Burton, Tim Burton and the Lurid Beauty of Monsters, and Tim Burton Sidebar: Waking Sleeping Beauty and Forbidden Zone.

By subway: From the 5th Ave. Station, walk half a block down W. 53rd St.

photo courtesy of MoMA NYC and Tim Burton Productions