The Quay Brothers at MoMA

With its dim lighting, birch trees, dark theaters and grey walls, the retrospective of the Quay Brothers certainly feels like a quiet walk through their minds than a gallery show. Which is to say, it is one of the most engaging experiences you can have at the Museum of Modern Art at the moment. And since the exhibition is set to end on January 7, 2013, it should certainly be at the top of any list of shows to see before the strange creatures, creepy dolls, and gothic dioramas are packed back into the boxes. In fact, as you are allowed to look into the strange worlds of the Quays’ invention, you get the feeling that the live and work within these worlds, and surely their studio must bear some resemblance to the hodgepodge of mechanisms and handcrafted gothic stylings of the rooms and spaces in their work.

As with most animators, illustrators, and creators in general, the work serves as a microcosm for the artist’s mind, and the exhibition certainly gets this across in more ways than one. In the second room, you find yourself actually standing in the middle of a real-life optical illusion, the very same technique used in many of their illustrations and animations. The show is split up into two sections, spilling over into the basement where the movie theaters reside, a fitting ending for their maze-like work.

The exhibition closes January 7, 2013. Let this be a reminder to put the Quay Brothers at the top of your list of shows to catch before time runs out.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2012 at 8:00 am. It is filed under Creative Culture, New York City. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.