(The following is excerpted from the Wikipedia article on the artists.)Stephen and Timothy Quay (born June 17, 1947 in Norristown, Pennsylvania) are American identical twins better known as the Brothers Quay or Quay Brothers. They are influential stop-motion animators. They are the recipients of the 1998 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design for their work on the play The Chairs.
The Quay Brothers reside and work in England, having moved there in 1969 to study at the Royal College of Art, London, after studying illustration at the Philadelphia College of Art, now the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. They spent some time in the Netherlands in the 1970s and then returned to England where they teamed up with another Royal College student, Keith Griffiths, who produced all of their films. The trio formed Koninck Studios in 1980, which is currently based in Southwark, South London.
The Quay Brothers' works (1979 - present) show a wide range of often esoteric influences. Most of their animation films feature puppets made of doll parts and other organic and inorganic materials, often partially disassembled, in a dark, moody atmosphere. Before turning to film, the Quays worked as professional illustrators. The prowess in illustration and calligraphy seeps increasingly into many formal elements in their later films, evident as graphic embellishment in the set decoration, or their particular use of patterns in the puppets' costume design. Titles, intertitles and credits appear in a variety of handwritten styles.
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