Museum of Modern Art Opens Quay Brothers Exhibition Today, 8/12

The Museum of Modern Art presents Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist's Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets, the first major retrospective of the full range of work by the Quay Brothers (American, b. 1947), running today, August 12, 2012-January 7, 2013. Originally from Philadelphia, the Quay Brothers have labored together in their London studio, Atelier Koninck, for the past 30 years, creating avant-garde stop-motion puppet animation, live-action films, and graphic design. 

Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist's Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets presents the full scope of their achievements: animated and live-action films, including never-before-seen early work, graphic design, drawings, calligraphic works, installations, and works on paper. The exhibition is organized by Ron Magliozzi, Associate Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art. 

As illustrators, stage designers, and filmmakers in a range of genres, the Quays have penetrated many fields of visual expression for a number of different audiences, from avant-garde cinema and opera to art for publications and television advertising. Beginning with their student films in 1971, the Quay Brothers have produced over 45 moving image works, including two features, music videos, dance films, documentaries, and signature personal works, including 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 Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa (1991), Ionesco's The Chairs (Tony-nominated design, 1997), Richard Ayre's The Cricket Recovers (2005), and recent site-specific pieces based on the work of Bartók and Kafka.