One of the most anticipated, and coolest, exhibits that the LACMA has shown is Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters, running now through November 27.

As one of the most innovative filmmakers of the modern age, del Toro has managed to reinvent many genres during his career, and showcase his love of cinema, pop-culture, and more through his various works. The exhibit allows you to take a peek into Bleak House, his home/museum of curiosities in Los Angeles, to see his various inspirations, and see his vast collection of pretty fantastic stuff.

Not just showcasing props from his movies, the exhibit opens a door into del Toro’s mind, touching upon the things he loved as a child, the books, films, and other media that influenced him, and his creative process. It is truly wonderful to take in the many things that del Toro considers sacred, and that helped shape his career.

Nicholas Barlow, who is the curatorial assistant for the Photos, Prints, & Drawings Department at the LACMA, explained that they knew del Toro had a loyal following of fans, but that they were surprised to see so many of them flock to see the exhibit itself.

“We’re very happy to have put on work that hasn’t been in museums before, and it would be rare to see anywhere else in the world,” Barlow said.

The exhibit came about over a year ago, when the curator, Britt Salvesen, and some of her staff went to Bleak house to see what del Toro had. He gave them a tour, and pointed out the highlights he wanted to include in the exhibit. Those “highlights” were close to 500 items right off the bat, so the team set to work photographing everything, and seeing what made the most sense to show. They also began going through their own collections at the LACMA, to see what items they had to showcase as well that fit in well with del Toro’s things.

Once they started narrowing it down, del Toro began to get even more excited.

“He would visit during the install, and always say that he was going to bring us more to show!” Barlow laughed. “His mantra is ‘more is more,’ and he actually went out to purchase more items to show for the exhibit.”

Del Toro made sure that the essential pieces of his collection, such as the artwork from The Telltale Heart and his full scale models of Frankenstein and his Bride, were on display as well, since they meant so much to him. He was also instrumental in how they were shown, such as suggesting that the animated film itself be shown with The Telltale Heart pieces.

“From the get go, he requested that it was not all about him, but his entire process, and the works that he ties into his films,” Barlow said. “He wanted it to be an exhibition of his influences and passions, of the things he surrounds himself with.”

Since del Toro is most comfortable working within Bleak House, it was those items he wanted to show off.

“He describes himself as not exactly a collector, and not a hoarder either, but somewhere in between,” Barlow joked.

Barlow went on to explain that del Toro really has no hierarchy in what he likes; everything influences everything else.

“He absorbs, and he has photographic memory. He is well read and knowledgeable of art history,” said Barlow. “He wanted to show his childhood and his visceral experiences.”

Barlow came in about a year ago specifically for this project (and another one he couldn’t talk about yet). His job was to work with Salvesen and del Toro to facilitate every level of the work; from seed of idea to the actual bringing work there.

“One of the things that kept me the busiest was that we had a long checklist of work to exhibit, but not a lot of information on some of them. We didn’t have the artists’ full names, their birth dates, their mediums, and so on,” said Barlow. Over last 6 months, he did intense investigation into who these people were, how they made things, and so on. He reached out to many of the artists to make sure information was correct.

Del Toro gave them freedom to make the big decisions, but he also made some great suggestions, so it was wonderful collaboration, according to Barlow. They wanted to honor him and his collection, and I personally believe they did an amazing job.

One of Barlow’s favorite pieces in the exhibit is a painting from Rod Serling’s Night Gallery.

“It was a prop painting, just a thing that influenced del Toro, and was never meant to be hung in a gallery,” said Barlow. “We went through all the processes of a normal paining before it was shown off, even though it wasn’t a ‘real’ painting. I loved being able to play with the idea of an artifact versus a prop.”

Again, the entire exhibit is truly an amazing site, and well worth your visit. If you’re a fan of del Toro’s work, and want to see the things that influenced him (plus some exciting props from his films), I highly recommend stopping by the LACMA to visit is Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters, running now through November 27.

For more information, please visit: http://www.lacma.org/guillermo-del-toro#about-the-exhibition

Thank you to Nicholas Barlow for taking the time to answer our questions.

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