Review on Quay Brothers exhibit

The Quay Brothers’ exhibit in the MoMa consisted of many stop motion animations and other works by the brothers. It felt as if we were in a timeline of the Quay Brothers’ works from beginning to now. Being in the exhibition was like being in the minds of the brothers, the paintings they used as inspiration were put in the exhibit as well, it kind of gave me a feeling as though I were looking at the wall of the Quay Brothers’ studio. Most of their films and art pieces were dark and gruesome. It consisted of doll parts and hardware like light bulbs as heads and hooks and hands. The atmosphere was dark and blurry. The MoMa also featured the environments made by the brothers, we were able to look into the magnifying glass and see the content and the thoroughness of the environments/stage the brothers create for their animations. I felt the Quay Brothers really allowed a connection between the characters and the environments they set up for their characters, which created a sense of realism in their works. The dolls interacted with everything, the beds, coming out from under a door, using scissors to cut the other doll. Personally, their work was a bit freaky and I already feared dolls, this added to the fear (couldn't sleep after the exhibit). However, I must say I really loved how much movement and the characters have and the relationships they have with the environment. I also love how they use every little detail for their stage.

The only animation that did not freak me out too much was The Calligrapher; it was short and to the point.  The character and the stage were made of paper cut outs, not dolls. I like how the colors of the feather pens stand out from everything else, like how it’s suppose to. My favorite part is when the drawing of the feather pen came to life. I enjoy animations that have drawings coming to life, like Max Fleischer's Out Of the Inkwell.