Tamara Schmidt

Recently I took a trip down to The Big Apple. The city was dipped in a vat of tinsel and sugar plum dust. So many dazzling lights and ornaments that would distract even Santa himself and send him off course.
It was mesmerizing…THE tree at Rockefeller Center, all the window displays competing for your attention, the jolly “Ho Ho Ho’s” and ring-jinga-lingle from the artificial santa’s posted on every street corner…Ahhh my heart swelled with Christmas spirit! So much in fact that I needed a break.
The alternative?
To visit the Museum of Modern Art and take in the Tim Burton exhibition.
I’m aware of who Tim Burton is as a movie maker: Edward Scissor Hands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hallow just to name a few. I never realized the depth and magnitude of this creative genius until I stepped in through the gallery doors! Shuffling past the displays of sketches, drawings and paintings I was introduced to morbidly abrasive and disfunctional characters, one after the other – that were surprisingly charming and vulnerable. A complete contradictory justaposition of sorts! (woah – now that’s a tongue twister).
Most of his work appeared character based, but there were a number of pieces that showed off his agreeable sense of composition – namely his studies for The Nightmare Before Christmas. Absolutely stunning! I would hang those on my wall any day.
The exhibition runs from November 22/09 to April 26/10. If you’re in the area and are overwhelmed by your own nightmares before Christmas (or New Year’s or Valentine’s Day or Easter), check out the exhibition for a dose of therapeutic refuge.