There’s a real art to keeping Pixar’s traveling art exhibition fresh

Jim Hill

14 years ago

Remysthe14me writes in to say:

I saw Jon Nadelberg's story about the "Pixar: 25 Years of
Animation" exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California and was wondering if
this is the same exhibition of art that was presented at the MOMA in 2005?

Not really, no. I recently spoke with Elyse Klaidman, the
Director of Pixar University & Archive about this traveling exhibition
(which – since it ended its NYC run back in April of 2006 – then went on to be
displayed to great acclaim in London, Tokyo, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Helsinki,
Seoul, Taipei and Singapore). And she explained that – for each stop of this
world tour – Pixar made a deliberate effort to keep things fresh.

"You have to
understand that most museums are interested in showing things that have never
been seen before. So – all along the
way – we kept making changes," Elyse explained. "At each stop, we'd try to open
a special feature. Sometimes we'd add a display that would hype our latest
film. Other times we'd take a few pieces off display because they were showing
signs of shifting or fading. But this exhibition was different – sometimes in
very subtle ways – for every stop of its world tour."

But given that "Pixar: 25 Years of Animation" 's stop at the
Oakland Museum of California is something of a homecoming (After all, the OMOC
is just a 10 minute drive away from Pixar's Emeryville campus), Klaidman and
her team made sure that this iteration of the exhibition was the best to date.

"We actually got lucky. The Museum recently underwent a
two-year, $58 million restoration. As a direct result, 'Pixar: 25 Years of
Animation' is the first exhibition to be presented in OMOC's new gallery space.
Which meant that they were literally able to design & build this space
around our artwork," Elyse said. "We've never had this much display space
before or had such great flow-thru between exhibits."

As a direct result … Well, even if you've seen "Pixar: 20
Years of Animation" at one of the previous stops on its world tour, you haven't
seen this display. Which – thanks to the inclusion of artwork for "Toy Story 3"
– is able to bring the Pixar story full circle.

"In this version of the exhibition, we've been able to place
one of Bud Luckey's drawings for the original 'Toy Story' right alongside one
of his drawings for 'Toy Story 3,' " Klaidman enthused. "To see pieces like this
in these sorts of groupings gives you a real appreciation for all of the
talented people we have working here at Pixar."

That – to be honest – is one of the main reasons that John
Lasseter had this traveling exhibit put together. To remind the public that – while
Pixar does use computers to make its animated features and shorts – the films
themselves are not made by computer. It's human beings – who often work with
such old-school tools as pen & paper, clay & pastels – who create all
of these characters, worlds and stories that
the world has fallen in love with.

Speaking of which … That's pretty much how the artwork for
"Pixar: 25 Years of Animation" is grouped inside of the OMOC's gallery space.
By story, characters and worlds. So that visitors can then get a sense of how Pixar (as each of its films goes through
the story development process) refines the looks of its characters. How its artists
create such highly detailed but believable worlds.

"That's another aspect of 'Pixar: 25 Years of Animation'
that I really enjoy," Elyse said. "In our movies, things go by so fast. People
rarely get the chance to truly appreciate the level of detail that our artists
put into character design or backgrounds. But with this exhibition, you can
take all the time you want with individual images. Really soak in the detail."

Mind you, a lot of work went into this refreshed / revamped
version of "Pixar: 20 Years of Animation." Klaidman and her team of six
practically lived at the OMOC during the three months leading up to this
exhibition's West Coast debut. And even then – just hours before this exhibit
opened to the public – Elyse's crew were still moving individual pieces around.
Trying to come up with the best possible groupings.

"We'd done multiple design passes on this exhibition prior
to install. But obviously things change once you actually get into that space and
see those paintings & drawings up on the walls. So we were making changes
on the fly right up until 'Pixar: 25 Years of Animation' opened," Elyse concluded.
"But I'm extremely pleased with the way that this version of the exhibition
turned out. The way that people are able to transition from the artwork to the
Zeotrope to the Artscape and then back again. I believe that this is the most
beautiful, most fully realized version of this traveling exhibit."

And given the huge crowds that have been turning up at the
OMOC over these past seven weeks in order to see "Pixar: 25 Years of
Animation," it's clear that the general public agrees with Klaidman's
assessment of this exhibition.

In fact, according to what Oakland Museum of California
officials recently told me, OMOC has seen a recent surge of people purchasing
individual or family memberships to the museum. Mostly because museum members
can then participate in some of the special programs that are associated with
"Pixar: 25 Years of Animation." Which have reportedly included movie screenings
as well as talks by Pixar veteran like Tia Kratter or Gary Rydstrom.

So if you're thinking about making a special trip up to
Oakland just to see "Pixar: 25 Years of Animation" (which closes on January 9,
2011), it might actually be worth it for you to purchase a OMOC membership. If only to
take advantage of those Members-Only viewing hours for this exhibition (i.e.
Every Saturday morning from 9 to 11 a.m. through October 30^th) as
well as to snag a seat for those "Meet Pixar Artists" that are scheduled for
October 16^th, November 4^th and December 21th.

For further information of the Oakland Museum of California
and the "Pixar: 25 Years of Animation" exhibition, please click on this link.