The international touring exhibition Johnny Depp: A Bunch of Stuff Presents Figures of the Fringe opened at the Modern Art Museum Shanghai in Pudong New Area on Aug 15.

One of the world's most influential film actors, Depp has portrayed many iconic characters on screen while maintaining a long-term creative practice across painting, music, and writing.

The exhibition features more than 60 of Depp's original artworks, sketches, portraits, manuscripts, poems, and personal items, offering a look at his decades-long visual practice and personal expression beyond his screen persona.

The exhibition occupies the museum's second and third floors. Housed in a converted coal depot, the museum retains much of its industrial character. On the second floor, footage from films featuring Depp is projected onto the museum's preserved coal-hopper walls, bringing the historic space into dialogue with the moving images.

The third floor showcases his paintings in a more atmospheric setting, with dark corridors, black-and-white checkerboard floors, and cool-toned lighting that contribute to a surreal, immersive environment.

Curated into five thematic sections, the exhibition traces decades of Depp's visual work and personal expression:

• Heroes & Idols features portraits of cultural figures including French avant-garde artist Antonin Artaud and Russian poet and playwright Vladimir Mayakovsky.
• Masks & Doubles explores themes of disguise, alienation, and the dissolution of self-boundaries.
• Phantasmagoria gathers recurring dark motifs — ghostly faces, death masks, and a palette of red and black — which echo the visual language of films such as Edward Scissorhands.
• First Shadows showcases the impact of childhood solitude on his creativity, with scenes such as a paint-filled corner of a room and a desk with manuscripts and a typewriter.
• Lovers & Muses focuses on the intimate dimension of Depp's work, a theme also reflected in films in which he appeared, including Chocolat.

If you go

When: Through Dec 13

Where: Modern Art Museum, No 4777 Binjiang Avenue, Pudong New Area

Open: 10 am to 6 pm (closed on Mondays)

Ticket: 98 yuan ($14.57)

Source: Modern Art Museum Shanghai