The Museum of Modern Art Announces GUILLERMO DEL TORO: CRAFTING PINOCCHIO

The Museum of Modern Art has announced Guillermo Del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio, an exhibition devoted to the craft and process behind the celebrated filmmaker's first stop-motion animation film.

On view in the second-floor Paul J. Sachs Galleries and in the Debra and Leon Black Family Film Center from December 11, 2022, through April 15, 2023, the exhibition will provide visitors with a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind del Toro's latest film, Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio (2022). In addition to the gallery presentations, MoMA will screen Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio from December 22 through 29; present a complete retrospective of del Toro's films in December 2022 and January 2023; and host a Carte Blanche series curated by the director in 2023, all in the Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters. Guillermo Del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio is organized by Ron Magliozzi, Curator, and Brittany Shaw, Curatorial Assistant, with Kyla Gordon, Research Assistant, Department of Film.

"With Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio, we had the unique opportunity to organize an exhibition during the active production of a feature film by one of this generation's most important filmmakers," says curator Ron Magliozzi. "The chance to observe first-hand how Guillermo and fellow director Mark Gustafson engaged with the craftspeople and artists under their direction inspired our selection and installation of the works on display."

The presentation on the second floor will include five full working sets and four large set pieces, alongside puppets and marionettes, maquettes, sculptural molds, drawings, development materials, time-lapse and motion-test videos, and props from the film. In the Black Family Film Center gallery space, visitors will experience a newly commissioned, immersive video series that explores themes frequently seen in del Toro's films; a comprehensive selection of studio-issued and alternative art posters; and a specially created, site-specific soundscape. The exhibition will demonstrate how teams of professionals in a remarkable range of mediums worked collaboratively in Portland, Oregon, and Guadalajara, Mexico, to create the film.

The exhibition will open with classical and contemporary editions of Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) from around the world including the 2002 edition illustrated by Gris Grimly, which inspired the filmmakers, to orient visitors to the original story and to show the diversity of approaches illustrators have taken to visualize the story.

Throughout the exhibition, visitors will learn more about the various phases of stop-motion animation filmmaking from look development to the years-long production process. Crafting Pinocchio will present physical pieces from the production alongside the digital color tests, topographical studies, state-of-the-art video technology, and archival photography that brought del Toro's reimagined classic to life.

Guillermo Del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio is the Museum's fourth major gallery exhibition to focus on the art of motion picture animation since 2005, following Pixar: 20 Years of Animation (2005-06), Tim Burton (2009), and Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist's Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets (2012). Del Toro's work has appeared in several of the Museum's exhibitions, starting in 1994, when his first film, Cronos (1993), was selected for the annual New Directors/New Films festival. Since then, the Museum has screened The Shape of Water (2017) as a part of The Contenders 2017 and Nightmare Alley (2021) as a part of The Contenders 2021.

A full screening schedule for film programs that will accompany Guillermo Del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio will be announced in fall 2022.