Major Tim Burton Exhibition Set to Open in Las Vegas

For the first time in nearly a decade, filmmaker and artist Tim Burton will stage an exhibition of his art in the United States.

Burton, the acclaimed director behind such classics as Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Edward Scissorhands, will take over the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Opened in 2012, the institution is an appropriate venue for the often-macabre director, as it’s a graveyard of sorts—a final resting place for neon signs from defunct hotels and casinos.

The entrance to MoMA’s 2009 exhibition of Tim Burton’s creative works. Photo: MoMA

The exhibition will comprise of a combination of new work as well as previously exhibited pieces. Created to take advantage of the museum’s unique open-air exhibition spaces, large-scale installations will be integrated with the museum’s current collection. Per a statement, Burton intends for the exhibition to serve as a retrospective of his own creative history, as well as a celebration of his professed affection for the Neon Museum. Burton notably featured the museum in his 1996 film Mars Attack!

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A series of drawings from Burton’s 2009 MoMA exhibit. Photo: MoMA

“To say we’re flattered that Mr. Burton has chosen our museum for this exhibition would be an understatement,” Rob McCoy, president and chief executive officer of the Neon Museum, said in a statement. “But when you think about it, Tim is one of the few artists who can match the great imagination of Las Vegas.”

Past exhibitions of Burton’s work have drawn millions of visitors around the world. An extensive exhibition dedicated to him at the Museum of Modern Art in 2009 counted more than 800,000 visitors, making it the museum’s third-most-attended exhibit ever. MoMA’s exhibition went on to tour in Melbourne, Toronto, Los Angeles, Paris, and Seoul.

The exhibition will be on view from October 15, 2019, through February 15, 2020, at the Neon Museum, 770 Las Vegas Boulevard North in Las Vegas.