Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist's Prescription for Lip-reading PuppetsStills, drawings, etchings, engravings and designs by the cult animators For more than 30 years, internationally renowned moving image artists and designers the Quay Brothers have been in the avant-garde of stop-motion puppet animation. Creating work in the tradition of Czech Surrealists Jan Svankmajer and Jiri Trnka, Russian animator Yuri Norstein and Polish animator Walerian Borowczyk, the twin brothers practice a design aesthetic influenced by the graphic surrealism of Polish poster artists of the 1950s and 1960s such as Jan Lenica, Roman Cieslewicz, Franciszek Starowieyski and Henryk Tomaszewski. Since 1971, they have produced more than 45 moving images, including features, music videos, dance films and documentaries, and have designed sets and projections for opera, drama and concert performances. Published to accompany an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art--the first presentation of the Quay Brothers' work in all their fields of creative activity--this publication presents their films as well as previously unseen moving image works and graphic design, drawings, typography and notebooks for films.The Quay Brothers were born near Philadelphia and have worked from their London studio, Atelier Koninck, since the late 1970s. Their works include The Street of Crocodiles (1986), the Stille Nacht series (1988-2008), Institute Benjamenta (1995) and In Absentia (2000). They have also designed sets and projections for opera, drama, and concert performances such as Ionesco's The Chairs (Tony-nominated design, 1997) and recent site-specific pieces based on the work of Bartók and Kafka. |
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artists Ballet by Kim beer Boijmans van Beuningen Book cover Borowczyk Brothers Quay Bruno Schulz Cabinet of Jan Calligrapher camera Céline choreographed cinema Collage College of Art Cornell University Deciphering the Pharmacist's decor Desire Without End Digital video Documentary Dormitorium Duchamp Duet Emma Hauck Emmo Extinct Anatomies filmmakers glass graphic illustration inside Jan Švankmajer Keith Griffiths Kim Brandstrup Koninck Leoš Janáček LIP-READING PUPPETS live-action London Loplop's Nest Michel de Ghelderode Modern Art Museum Boijmans Museum of Modern Museums of Sleep Music video Mütter Museum Nacht Name is Alive Nicholas Broadhurst Nocturna Artificialia Opera Optical box Paper animation Pencil on paper Phantom Museum Pharmacist's Prescription Philadelphia Photo offset Photograph Robert Barker posters PRESCRIPTION FOR LIP-READING QBFZ Collection Quay Brothers Quay Twins Rehearsals for Extinct Royal Schulz's Steve Martland Street of Crocodiles theater Toone Twins in America Unnameable Little Broom viewer Walerian Borowczyk Wood