They hail from Pennsylvania, and their films are indebted to the art of Central Europe. But the Brothers Quay actually live midway between those places, in South London.
Emigrés in the city since the late 1970s, twins Stephen and Timothy have made the majority of their sensual, enigmatic films, which range across stop motion and live action, in a secluded studio in the Borough district. Around the corner, they own an apartment, to which the British newspaper Metro recently paid a visit.
The open plan apartment, spread out over two floors, is housed in a converted 19th-century box factory — an appropriate origin story, given the Quays’ habit of repurposing industrial materials in their films. The place has been thoroughly refurbished by the brothers. Fans of theirs will notice recurring motifs from their work — pine cones, deer antlers — dotted around.
