Tim Burton: The Exhibition

Editorial

When: 24 June - 10 October, 2010
Where: Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Tickets: Full $19; Concession $14; Family $55 (2 adults, 3 children); Each extra child $10; Unlimited entry tickets also available: Full $45 Concession $35
Bookings: Purchase tickets at the ACMI Box Office, call (03) 8663 2583 or from ACMI online

If you've ever marvelled over the grotesque beauty of The Nightmare Before Christmas, been moved by the poignant drama of Big Fish or thrilled to the gothic terrors of Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd, then you already know that writer/director Tim Burton is one of the great cinematic visionaries of modern times.

In celebration of Burton's genius, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) presents the exclusive Australian appearance of Tim Burton: The Exhibition, direct from New York's Museum of Modern Art.

The exhibition explores the breadth of Burton's creative career, as director, concept artist, illustrator and photographer, through hundreds of artworks that spectacularly illuminate the creative vision behind films such as Beetlejuice, Batman, Ed Wood and most recently, Alice in Wonderland.

Tracing Burton's visual imagination from his earliest childhood drawings through to his mature work in film, the exhibition brings together over 700 examples of rarely or never-before-seen drawings, paintings, photographs, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera, and includes an extensive film series spanning his 27-year career.

Visiting Melbourne for the exhibition, Burton will discuss his favourite five films of all time on Tuesday 22 June when he takes part in the ACMI's popular Desert Island Flicks series, in a discussion hosted by comedian Alan Brough (ABC TV's Spicks and Specks); while the Masterclass with Tim Burton, hosted by Margaret Pomeranz (ABC TV's At the Movies) will reveal the inner workings of Burton's restless imagination.

A remarkable opportunity to engage with one of the most creative minds in Hollywood, Tim Burton: The Exhibition - presented as part of Melbourne Winter Masterpieces 2010 - is absolutely not to be missed.

Richard Watts, Citysearch