PORTLAND, Oregon, December 1, 2022 (revised to update opening date) —The Portland Art Museum announces Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio, opening June 10, 2023. Known for taking artistic originality and cinematic vision to new heights across film, television, animation and more, Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro is one of the most inventive and iconic directors of the 21st century.
Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchiois a celebration and exploration of the inventiveness, passion and artistic cooperation that goes into making a cinematic vision come to life. Now in theaters and streaming on Netflix beginning December 9, the movie Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio was ten years in the making, and conceived for international audiences of all ages. The film highlights the importance of non-conformity and the love and understanding passed between parents and children—and above all, showcases the incredible passion that del Toro, co-directorMarkGustafson, and their team bring to the art of stop-motion animation. With voice talents from Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Ewan McGregor and a soundtrack by Nick Cave and Alexandre Desplat, the film has been given extraordinary critical praise, with many already deeming it a “masterpiece.”
Mackinnon & Saunders. Geppetto and Pinocchio Production Puppets, 2019-2020. Geppetto: steel, foam latex, silicone, resin, fabric, fiber, plastic. 4 x 4 ¾ x 14″ (10.2 x 12.1 x 35.6 cm). Pinocchio: 3D printed resin, 3D printed steel, steel, silicone, paint. 4 x 3 x 9.5″ (10.2 x 7.6 x 24.1 cm). Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, 2022. Image courtesy Netflix.
This exhibition is coming to Portland from The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, where it opens December 11, 2022. MoMA organizing curator Ron Magliozzi said, “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. 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.”
Showcasing the collaborative art, craft and storytelling of the film, the exhibition immerses audiences in its world, featuring iconic creatures, set pieces, stop-motion animation technology, and fantastical visual and sound elements. At more than 8,000 square feet, the exhibition will guide audiences through the creation and collective artistry of del Toro’s work. Featuring the inspirations and inventiveness of the artists that helped bring the story to life, Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio will celebrate how far imagination can push us into making our dreams a reality.
Mackinnon & Saunders. Inprogress Pinocchio Production Puppets at the ShadowMachine workshop. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, 2022. Image courtesy Netflix.
The Portland Art Museum’s presentation of Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio will expand on the richness of the local stop-motion animation community by giving visitors a look inside the artists’ process. The exhibition and programs will give special attention to the talent and creative collaboration of the local cinematic animation artists at ShadowMachine—a renowned stop-motion animation studio based here in Portland, Oregon, a city increasingly recognized as a creative hub of the artform.
In addition to the exhibition itself, PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow, the Museum’s film and new media arm, will enhance and deepen the experience of Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio with classes, programs, and a screening series celebrating the art of stop-motion animation. ShadowMachine co-founder Alex Bulkley was a 2021 honoree of PAM CUT’s Cinema Unbound Awards, which celebrate boundary-breaking multimedia storytellers working at the intersection of art and cinema.
ShadowMachine. Columbina Production Puppet, 2019-2020. Steel, wire, resin, paint, fabric, brass. 3.5 x 3.5 x 9″ (8.9 x 8.9 x 22.8 cm). Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, 2022. Image courtesy Netflix.
“The Portland-based artists and craftspeople working on this film at ShadowMachine are truly extraordinary,” said Amy Dotson, Portland Art Museum Curator of Film and New Media and PAM CUT Director. “From their work on the tiniest eyeballs to the wildest, most imaginative large-scale sets, Guillermo and Mark’s vision for a non-conformist, radical, and deeply personal telling of the Pinocchio story will be especially meaningful to artists and audiences here in our community. Collectively, they have carved out a new direction for animation as an art form, as well as a timely tale about the importance of finding and expressing one’s true self.”
The exhibition is made possible by the Portland Art Museum's Exhibition Series Sponsors including the William G. Gilmore Foundation, Laura and Roger Meier Family, and the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation.
Left to right: Mark Gustafson and Guillermo del Toro on the set of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, 2022. Image courtesy Jason Schmidt/Netflix.
About the Portland Art Museum
The seventh oldest museum in the United States, thePortland Art Museum is internationally recognized for its permanent collection and ambitious special exhibitions drawn from the Museum’s holdings and the world’s finest public and private collections. The Museum’s collection of more than 45,000 objects, displayed in 112,000 square feet of galleries, reflects the history of art from ancient times to today. The collection is distinguished for its holdings of arts of the Native peoples of North America, English silver, and the graphic arts. An active collecting institution dedicated to preserving great art for the enrichment of future generations, the Museum devotes 90 percent of its galleries to its permanent collection.
The Museum’s campus of landmark buildings, a cornerstone of Portland’s cultural district, includes the Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art, the Gilkey Center for Graphic Arts, the Schnitzer Center for Northwest Art, PAM CUT, and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art. With a membership of more than 22,000 households and serving more than 350,000 visitors annually, the Museum is a premier venue for education in the visual arts. Learn more at portlandartmuseum.org.
The Museum’s film and new media arm, PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow was established in 1971 as the Northwest Film Center. It is an extension of the Museum and a year-round organization where artists and audiences explore our region and the world through cinematic storytelling in all its forms—including film, television, new media, audio storytelling, gaming, and immersive arts. PAM CUT’s mission is to change for whom, by whom, and how cinematic stories are told. Through our “cinema unbound” approach to exhibition, education, artist services, and special programs, we embrace audiences and artists working at the intersection of art and cinema who are not content to be contained. Learn more at pamcut.org.
The Portland Art Museum welcomes all visitors and affirms its commitment to making its programs and collections accessible to everyone. The Museum offers a variety of programs and services to ensure a quality experience and a safe, inclusive environment for every member of our diverse community. Learn more at portlandartmuseum.org/access.
The Portland Art Museum is pleased to offer accommodations to ensure that our programs are accessible and inclusive. Please email a request to access@pam.org two to three weeks in advance, or call 503-226-2811.
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