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From 18 to 26 October, at the historic Fortezza da Basso in Florence, the 15th edition of the Florence Biennale will host the unprecedented solo exhibition “Tim Burton: Light and Darkness”, curated by Sarah Brown together with the Florence Biennale, created and developed in collaboration with the renowned American artist and director Tim Burton, one of the most original and recognisable voices in contemporary cinema and imagery. The exhibition has been conceived specifically for the Florence Biennale and is in direct dialogue with the main theme of this edition: “The Sublime Essence of Light and Darkness. Concepts of Dualism and Unity in Contemporary Art and Design”.

The title of the exhibition, chosen personally by Burton, not only refers to the dualism between light and darkness which is the focus of the 2025 edition of the Biennale, but also makes explicit the underlying tension that runs through all his work: the coexistence of light and dark, irony and melancholy, dream and nightmare. It is in this constant oscillation that lies the poetic essence of an artist who, more than others, has been able to give shape to an aesthetic capable of seducing the general public without renouncing a deeply personal language.

Exhibition curator Sarah Brown states: “As an illustrator, painter, photographer and author, Burton's creative vision extends well beyond the realm of film and TV, finding expression in record-breaking exhibitions and an array of acclaimed publications. The artworks explore the striking 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

The exhibition presents over fifty works displayed across five rooms. Some of these works have been selected from the travelling exhibition "The World of Tim Burton", which over the years has allowed fans around the world to discover the lesser-known side of the director. Others are new and exclusive creations, making the Florence exhibition a unique opportunity for all enthusiasts.

The exhibition opens with an installation complemented by an ample collection of drawings, albums, and notebooks personally selected by Tim Burton, and runs through interconnected rooms full of surprises. Among the works in the first room, three enigmatic resin creatures stand out, illuminated by a sophisticated play of light and shadow that enhances their mysterious and fantastical aura. The same room also features three new three-dimensional lenticular works, including “Percepto” and “Blue Girl with Wine”, together with “3D looking glasses”, tools designed to intensify the visual experience and engage the viewer in a deeper and more dynamic perception of the images.

The route continues towards the spectacular “Carousel Room”, an immersive environment with UV lighting and multicoloured backdrops made in the United States, which welcomes visitors into a fluorescent vortex, where the carousel designed and created by Tim Burton becomes the centrepiece of a visionary landscape. Among the exclusive creations for this exhibition, the replica of the neon sign designed by Burton — the original of which is now preserved at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas — pays homage to American popular culture, transforming itself in the artist's hands into a symbol of an imaginary world capable of blending nostalgia, irony and wonder.

The last room is the setting for one of the most eagerly awaited features: the one dedicated to the film "Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride", on the twentieth anniversary of its release, now recognised as one of Burton's absolute masterpieces. Alongside an authentic drawing, there are original models of the protagonists Victor and Emily, displayed in two versions: the interior skeletons provided by the renowned Mackinnon and Saunders studio, and the real puppets as we saw them on screen.

Alongside the section dedicated to "Corpse Bride", the fifth and final room also features references to other cinematic masterpieces such as “Beetlejuice”, "Edward Scissorhands" and "Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas", presented through a selection of drawings.

No less significant is the space reserved for works and characters that have had more limited release, but which are part of Burton's most intimate and poetic soul. Figures such as Oyster Boy, Stain Boy, Robot Boy and Toxic Boy, collected in the illustrated pages of the volume “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories”, find their rightful place here through sculptures, installations, drawings and projections. A tribute to that narrative vein which, beyond cinema, has allowed the director to consolidate an imaginary world populated by fragile, melancholic and ironic beings, capable of evoking the dark side of childhood with the lightness of a gothic fairy tale.

The exhibition ends with a small screening room, designed to convey the artist's audiovisual dimension and bring the audience's experience back to the cinematic origins of his poetics.

A CELEBRATION BEYOND CINEMA

With "Tim Burton: Light and Darkness", Florence celebrates a director and artist who, throughout his career, has been able to overstep the boundaries between disciplines, creating an immediately recognisable visual language. Burton did not simply imagine and construct cinematic works, he invented a genre: a universe inhabited by liminal creatures, suspended between light and darkness, capable of embodying the archetypal tensions of the collective imagination in a modern key.

The exhibition aims to be not only a tribute, but also a journey into an artistic sensibility that has managed to combine pop culture and aesthetic reflection, romantic gothic and surreal irony. As visitors walk through the rooms, they find themselves traversing the subtle boundaries that separate fear and wonder, melancholy and lightness, life and death: the very territories that have always constituted the essence of Tim Burton's art.

The exhibition aims to be not only a tribute, but also a journey into an artistic sensibility that has managed to combine pop culture and aesthetic reflection, romantic gothic and surreal irony. As visitors walk through the rooms, they find themselves traversing the subtle boundaries that separate fear and wonder, melancholy and lightness, life and death: the very territories that have always constituted the essence of Tim Burton's art.

📣 Tickets for the XV Florence Biennale are now available on Vivaticket!

📍Fortezza da Basso, Florence (18-26 October)

🎟 Buy your tickets now: https://www.florencebiennale.org/en/tickets-and-informations