Guillermo Del Toro Shares His Bleak House Art Exhibit
You should check out Guillermo del Toro’s Bleak House exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibit is called Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters. It features several pieces from the Guillermo del Toro’s personal collection of art, movie props, artifacts, and other collectibles that are inspired by horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and the supernatural. The official LACMA site offers a description of the exhibit:
Guillermo del Toro (b. 1964) is one of the most inventive filmmakers of his generation. Beginning with Cronos (1993) and continuing through The Devil’s Backbone (2001), Hellboy (2004), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Pacific Rim (2013), and Crimson Peak (2015), among many other film, television, and book projects, del Toro has reinvented the genres of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Working with a team of craftsmen, artists, and actors—and referencing a wide range of cinematic, pop-culture, and art-historical sources—del Toro recreates the lucid dreams he experienced as a child in Guadalajara, Mexico. He now works internationally, with a cherished home base he calls “Bleak House” in the suburbs of Los Angeles.
Taking inspiration from del Toro’s extraordinary imagination, the exhibition reveals his creative process through his collection of paintings, drawings, maquettes, artifacts, and concept film art. Rather than a traditional chronology or filmography, the exhibition is organized thematically, beginning with visions of death and the afterlife; continuing through explorations of magic, occultism, horror, and monsters; and concluding with representations of innocence and redemption.
When talking about the exhibition with the L.A. Times, the director said:
“I love praising monsters. I love telling people how great and beautiful horror stories can be. I’m not interested in the mechanics of the scary horror. I’m interested in the sort of kinship it has with fairy tales. The dark, magical beauty of horror.”
The exhibit just opened so you have time to go check it out, if you live close by. It will be on display until November 27th.
You can see more photos on Del Toro’s Twitter feed.
