Finally got around to going to the MoMa and seeing the esteemed Tim Burton exhibit. Good thing I bought tickets last week as this thing has got to be the most popular exhibit the museum has ever seen and was sold out by the time I walked out a little after 1:00 pm. Even before I knew who Tim Burton was I knew his movies. They are dark, twisted, but comedic and humorous films who’s images seem to stick with you long after they are over. To name a few; Peewee’s Big Adventure and Beetlejuice among others. Both are classics of course and two of my favorite childhood movies. My father and I used to regurgitate Beetlejuice lines to each other from that very impressionable time in my childhood. “Hey there goes Elvis, YO KING!” is one that still resonates to this day.

You can’t take pictures inside the actual exhibit but it but it contains the earliest sketches, vibrant images, homework assignments, scrap-work, displays, costumes, figures, shorts, and so on essentially depicting the progression and maturation of one of the most imaginative artists of this century. It’s just not something you get to see everyday or in a lifetime. With the help of so many different people from curators, collaborators, artists, and studio’s, etc., the archived work is worth every cent of $20 I paid to go see it as the evolution and volume of Burton’s output is unprecedented. You can’t even believe how much he has done in such a short period of time and it makes me want to get to work immediately.

I believe the ever present mission of an artist is to conceptualize and materialize ideas as close to perfection as possible. The use of minimal material to come up with amazing art I thought could very much be compared to Hip Hop or Punk Rock.  Some people categorize Burton’s work as Pop Art.

Many times the finished product is far from perfect or doesn’t meet your own expectations of how it should have been, HOWEVER, after seeing this exhibit, the realization of how important the actual creative process is, over time, is just as important, if not more important than the finished product. And the reason why is because the finished product or end result of certain projects are actually sequential pieces themselves that lead to even bigger projects and ultimately make up the complete body of work of an artist; micro to macro. As critics and fans we tend to negatively judge and get hung up on similar works by the same artist referencing themselves in different works.  On the other hand we may have the same sentiments toward what is a seemingly radical digression from past works.  Seeing this exhibit made me perceive things a little differently because everything is a work in progress.

The word inspiring is an understatement in terms of what is being revealed on the third floor of the MoMa. The word perspective is something to ponder.

Related Content: Reviews Leave a reply ↓