THE WORLD OF TIM BURTON

The Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin presents THE WORLD OF TIM BURTON, the exhibition dedicated to the creative genius of Tim Burton. Staged at the Mole Antonelliana, the exhibition comes to Italy for the first time.

A journey into Tim Burton’s visionary universe and creativity, the exhibition focuses primarily on the director’s personal archive, showcasing an extraordinary variety of his creative output. It features not only precious documents, but also drawings and sketches that reveal the recurring themes and visual motifs from which the characters inhabiting the director’s distinctive cinematic worlds have come to life.

The exhibition retraces Burton’s path and the evolution of his unique visual imagination as a multidimensional postmodern artist, in a sort of autobiography told through his boundless creative process.

Through this unique presentation of the director’s work, his distinctive vision transcends media and formats, clearly showing how ideas, themes and even specific images from his art found their way into the iconic films that we now associate with spectacular cinematic grandeur.

Long before achieving critical and commercial success in live-action and animation, Burton drew inspiration from films on television, cartoons, newspaper comics, myths and fairy tales told at school, and other forms of popular culture, incorporating these lifelong influences into his art and films. His childhood sketches reveal Burton’s range and evoke the work of his predecessors, including classic cartoonists and illustrators such as Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, Don Martin and Theodore Geisel. The influence of Japanese monster movies, Expressionist cinema, the Universal Studios horror catalogue, and masters of suspense William Castle and Vincent Price also permeates his work.

This major immersive exhibition is an exclusive journey into the mind of a creative genius: the definitive exploration of Tim Burton’s artistic production, inimitable style and distinctive perspective.

Divided into 9 thematic sections, it presents more than 500 examples of original artworks — rarely or never seen before — from his early work to his most recent projects, including sketches, paintings, drawings, photographs, concept art, storyboards, costumes, moving-image works, maquettes, puppets and life-size sculptural installations. An evocative setting will guide visitors and fans as they immerse themselves in Tim Burton’s extraordinary universe, gain a deeper understanding of his sensibility and take photos with the figure of Balloon Boy. Visitors will also have the opportunity to explore an exact replica of the artist’s personal studio, along with a special sneak peek at current and unrealised projects.

The exhibition is conceived and co-curated by Jenny He in collaboration with Tim Burton, and adapted by Domenico De Gaetano for the Museo Nazionale del Cinema.

The exhibition has received the patronage of the City of Turin.