The Art of Tim Burton

Back in June, I had gone down to LA for the Can't Stop the Serenity charity event (which you can read about me in all my geekdome here). The day after I took a trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to see the Tim Burton Exhibit!

If you're a "kid" around my age, you fell in love with Beetle Juice and The Nightmare Before Christmas! The awe & mystery of Edward Scissorhands and many many more! Now imagine if you would, walking into the creative world of the artist that made these wonderful films possible! I got to do just that!

This was my portal into that world:

I walked around in childish delight taking it all in from scultpures to statues, paintings, movie props, costumes and videos. It was all eye candy and nourishment for my soul!

The colors and textures of everything. Endless hours of love, neurosis, art and ambition from his early days at Disney to his work of today. It was all there on display and I drank it ALL in!

The walls were covered in pages of notebook sketches & water color doodles.

Even the simplicity of this sketch & poem has depth with the use of watercolors! Not to mention that the poem is pretty kick a$$!

This piece stole my heart!

I could envision a young Edward cutting out cookie dough with his cutter feet & his father holding up his heart! The magic that cinema is brought to life!

In the center of the exhibit, you walk through this black curtain.

Danny Elfman nightmaresque music is playing.

The entire room is dark - lit up with a black light.

Creatures are crawling on the black walls in bright black light paint and this awesome carousel is sitting in the center of the room.

Electrified & revolving!

Off in the corner of this room is a replica of "Oogie Boogie"!

After a short millenia of being captured by the awesomeness of the black light room, I move on to a room full of a hundred little Jack Skellington heads in plexy glass on one wall and the rest of the cast of Nightmare on the other! I decided that this was the time that I put my headphones in my ear & start up my ipod with the Nightmare Revisited soundtrack...Marilyn Manson's version of "This is Halloween" delightfully playing in my ears.

I walked from section to section looking at Colleen Atwood costumes in intensity! Catwoman, Edward Scissorhands & a huge pumpkinhead cape from Sleepy Hallow! Numerous other stop-motion animated characters and movie memorabilia. There was just sooo much in this one place!

I enjoyed watching this short called Vincent.

My tour ended here:

Flooded back by the light of day and ushered into the most evil little museum gift shop ever! - Well, a close second to my trip to the SF MOMA to see the Frida Khalo exhibit & gift shop! (but that's a story for another day!)

I ended up buying a sticker pack containing the Pin Cushion Queen & Oyster Boy! I still have yet to make anything with them. I'll make a post once I do. :)

Me having fun in front of the LACMA

All I can say is Tim Burton is an awe-inspiring artist! If you have a chance to see the exhibit, please, PLEASE do! You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't! LA traffic is worth the experience to see his art up-close!!!

And if I'm not convincing you to go, here's a guerrilla recording of the exhibit I found on youtube...which really doesn't do it justice, but gives you a good idea as to how awesome it is!

You can also view other people's photos on flickr! Enjoy!