From Oct. 18 to 26, the historic Fortezza da Basso in Florence will host the 15th edition of the Florence Biennale with a special highlight: the solo exhibition Tim Burton: Light and Darkness, conceived in collaboration with U.S. filmmaker and artist Tim Burton and curated by Sarah Brown together with the Biennale. The exhibition was conceived specifically for the Florentine edition and is part of the year’s overarching theme, The Sublime Essence of Light and Darkness. Concepts of Dualism and Unity in Contemporary Art andDesign.
The title chosen by the artist reflects the dualism that runs through his production, highlighting the coexistence of opposing elements such as light and darkness, irony and melancholy, dream and nightmare. It is precisely this dialectical tension that constitutes the core of his artistic language, capable of combining an immediately recognizable aesthetic with a personal poetics, always maintaining a dialogue with the wider public.
“As an illustrator,” says exhibition curator Sarah Brown, “painter, photographer, and author, Burton’s creative vision reaches far beyond the world of film and television, finding expression in record-breaking exhibitions and a series of acclaimed publications. The works explore the surprising dualities central to his vision: light and dark, good and evil, order and chaos, each defined by the presence of its opposite. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to encounter the artistic imagination that has left an indelible mark on both contemporary cinema and the visual arts.”
The exhibition unfolds through five rooms and more than fifty works, combining selections from the traveling project The World of Tim Burton with never-before-seen creations made especially for Florence. The first room introduces the visitor with an installation accompanied by drawings, albums and notebooks personally chosen by Burton. Highlights include three resin creatures, illuminated by a careful play of light and shadow, and three three-dimensional lenticular works, including Perspecto and Blue Girl with Wine, flanked by 3D looking glass-exposedtools for more intense visual engagement. The tour continues in the Carousel Room, a space illuminated by UV lights with polychrome backdrops made in the United States. In the center of the room, a carousel conceived and made by Burton becomes the centerpiece of a visionary environment, while a replica of the artist’s illuminated sign, the original of which is housed at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, gives the exhibition a direct reference to American pop culture and the artist’s aesthetic heritage.
The last section of the exhibition is dedicated to Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, marking the 20th anniversary of its release. On display in this room are original drawings and models of the main characters Victor and Emily, presented both in the Mackinnon and Saunders studio armor and as the final puppets seen on screen. Alongside this section, references to other films such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas are collected through a selection of drawings. Special attention is also given to works that are less well-known but intimately connected to the artist’s poetics. Figures such as Oyster Boy, Stain Boy, Robot Boy and Toxic Boy, taken from the volume The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, are represented with sculptures, installations, drawings and projections, highlighting the more fragile and poetic side of Burton’s production, capable of recounting childhood and the dark side of fantasy with the lightness of a gothic fairy tale. The exhibition concludes with a screening room designed to restore the director’s audiovisual dimension, recalling the cinematic roots of his poetics.
Tim Burton: Light and Darkness thus offers a comprehensive overview of an artist who was able to cross the boundaries between disciplines, creating a unique, recognizable and influential visual language. The exhibition allows visitors to traverse aesthetic territories characterized by the coexistence of fear and wonder, melancholy and lightness, life and death, elements that constitute Burton’s stylistic and poetic signature. As part of the Biennale’s program, on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 5 p.m., at the theater area of the Spadolini Pavilion, the artist will receive the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremony, in Burton’s presence, recognizes the artist’s outstanding contribution to contemporary visual art and is held as a special event as part of the Florence Biennale.
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| Tim Burton on display at Florence Biennale in Florence |
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