A Trip Through the Mind of Tim Burton
September 14th 2010 09:34
Traipsing through the doors of the ACMI the weekend before last, I found myself becoming ever more curious to discover the secrets of the boy Tim Burton once was. While I admired Alice’s frocks, reminisced about the creepiness of Pee-wee Herman and delighted in a note from Burton to demigod Johnny, the part of the exhibition that really stole the show for me was the retrospective of Burton’s childhood and all its kooky accoutrements.
Meandering through his childish scrawling and disproportionate cartoon figures, it’s easy to connect the bizarre and fantastic imaginings of his youth with the multi-million dollar productions of eccentricity he is renowned for. His early representations of growing up in Burbank, California, bear startling similarity to his later tale of Edward Scissorhands, depicting life as an outsider in eerie, unnaturally perfect 50s-like suburbia.
Cartoons of unlikely heroes, comical grotesquery and the dark side of anything seemingly wholesome follow this theme to show promise of what will later become recurring imagery throughout his career. His penchant for madcap and converse symbolism is instantly recognizable even in his earliest creations.
Tim Burton: The Exhibition was organised by MoMA with personal contribution by the man himself. It is showing at ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne until October 10, 2010. Tickets are $19 at the door or see the website for more details.
Michaelie Clark
Image courtesy of timburtoncollective.com
Image courtesy of wordpress.com
Image courtesy of tinypic.com
Tim Burton: The Exhibition was organised by MoMA with personal contribution by the man himself. It is showing at ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne until October 10, 2010. Tickets are $19 at the door or see the website for more details.
Michaelie Clark
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Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
These images look very interesting and I'd like to see more of them.....that lass in the top picture looks like she could take an eye out with those things
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
(I thought you lived in Sidders too)
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
A friend of mine works for the gallery I think and met Mr Burton. Said he was great.
Comment by Anonymous
I've heard from several people that the exhibition is well worth a look. I hope to get down to Melbourne to see it before it closes. It's just a pity there's such a lot on between now and then.......
Love your work.
Pamela
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Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Heard it's only showing in three places - started in NY, moved to Melbourne, not sure about the third but I doubt Sydney...
ShaunK - These are but a few and probably not the best, there were some really fantastic cartoons and paintings, and stories Burton wrote as a kid complete with spelling errors which were really interesting, plus heaps of maquettes and puppets and costumes and other bits and pieces, a lot of which are from Burton's private collection.
And yes, the lady at the top seems to be a bit of a booby-trap!
I am indeed a Melbourne gal Bryn! Hence I feel I should partake in our city rivalry and tell you that you come from a place of cultural neanderthals.
JD - how cool, would be such a thrill to meet him... and the two loves of his life, Helena and Johnny!
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Thanks for the compliment too
Amy, that's for sure! I think he has that most terrific quality of wonderfully sensible insanity. If he left it all in his own head he'd probably just be a raving lunatic, I guess the trick is putting it all out there for everyone to enjoy!
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Comment by Tracy
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A friend saw this and said it was brilliant. I would love to see it too. Fingers crossed it comes to Sydney!
Tracy
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