Designing Worlds

"One advantage I think is my design sense. When you’re drawing, every element, every line, makes up what it is; and there is a feeling of that when I think about a shot." – Tim Burton

Tim Burton is the creative force behind some of the most celebrated films of the last four decades. He is internationally recognised as a master of the comically grotesque and the endearingly misfit. The World of Tim Burton will invite visitors into his world through an exploration of the design of his unique aesthetic. While most well-known for his cinematic work, this show will display the full extent of his production as an illustrator, painter, photographer, and author, as well as exploring some of the key collaborations that have helped shape his world. As a multi-disciplinary artist, his creations extend beyond the limits of mediums and formats. Drawn from Tim Burton’s personal archive and representing the artist’s creative output from childhood to the present day, this exhibition of drawings, paintings, photographs, sketchbooks, props, sculptural installations, storyboards and set design focuses on the recurrent visual themes and motifs found in the distinctive characters and worlds found in Burton’s art and films.

This book will be the official catalogue for the exhibition, as well as the first publication to explore the relationship between Tim Burton’s artistic creations and the world of design. The reader will be invited into an examination of what is now broadly referred to as the ‘Burtonesque’, exploring his iconic style and the impact his unique design aesthetic has on broader visual culture. The catalogue will unpack Tim Burton’s distinctive visual language, exploring the intersection of gothic, carnivalesque and fantastical elements that define his cinematic masterpieces. Insightful essays by design experts and film critics, interspersed with images featured in the exhibition, will offer a deeper understanding of the director’s creative process, making this catalogue an homage to the role that design practice plays in the hauntingly beautiful worlds he creates.