Gallery • 7 Photos

Sophie Jaro

Guillermo Del Toro's exhibit entitled At Home With Monsters is open at the Mia until May 28.

Before you visit Guillermo del Toro’s: At Home with Monsters at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, prepare yourself for more than just paintings on a wall. This thoughtfully-curated exhibit features classic artwork, pre-production storyboards, movie props, horror comics, soundscapes, movie clips, and wax figures of men, mutants, and other monsters from acclaimed filmmakers personal collection from his “Bleak House” (as well as complementary pieces added by the museum).

This exhibit makes horror high-culture but still accessible to the masses eager to take the time to investigate del Toro’s process, inspirations, and creations. The exhibit begins with an introduction to del Toro’s early work and philosophies. After a short description from Mia’s curator comparing del Toro to Hitchcock and Hieronymus Bosch, the exhibit eases into images of G-rated spooky stories, including illustrations from haunting children’s books, del Toro’s movies, and a photo of the filmmaker himself “strangling” his sister on the lawn when he was seven. The creation of the room reflects del Toro’s belief that children, who express unfiltered emotions, should not be insulated from fear, harm, abandonment, or death. In this room, you’ll see everything from fairytale illustrations (the original medium vulnerable children use to make a compelling story) to life-sized movie-character models. As the exhibit progresses into the next room, you get acquainted with del Toro’s tame and moody Victorian inspirations. Don’t miss the portraits of sea monkey-human hybrids, moonlit gothic paintings, and a collage of colorful bug carcasses.

You’re welcomed into the next room by a realistic, creepy, wide-eyed butler. Exhibit-goers stopped and stared trying to discern whether he was a living statue or a wax one before enjoying the rest of the room themed “Magic, Alchemy and the Occult.” This room introduced more sensory components including a hole in the wall haunted by music and a young wax boy ,as well as zoomed projections of creepy images on the walls. Panels of comic books as well as costumes and props from Hellboy comprise the “Comics and Pop Culture” rooms continuing this maturing understanding of del Toro’s unique artistic intrigues. Another highlight of the exhibit is the “Rain Room,” which features a full-sized Edgar Allen Poe (with whom del Toro shares intellectual kinship) and a stormy score soundscape designed by Oscar-winning film composer Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain, Babel). This room in the exhibit replicated the real Rain Room of del Toro’s “Bleak House,” which he created to feel he was in a world apart. Based on a dream from his childhood, he created a permanent thunderstorm in sunny California.

An enormous and realistic Frankenstein face, an array of carnival freaks, and an oozing albino penguin lead you into the final room which makes you realize that behind the accessible joy and childhood inspirations in the exhibit, horror has been creeping up on you the whole time. “Death and the Afterlife” finally exudes the distraught and excited mood typical of the genre with pieces such as gruesome clips from the movies, a portrait that looked like it had been contemptuously streaked while still wet, or the pale drooping, monster with an eyeball on the hand.

We fear the unknown. Guillermo del Toro’s: At Home with Monsters thoughtfully-curated display turns a collection of scary art, sketches, and wax figures into a portal to a comfortable, understandable, and inspirational monster world. This exhibit achieves the intrigue of horror while eliminating the distress by liberating the enigmatic genre from the unknown.