Poaa.com, Breda, Netherlands

Knip Brothers Biography

Rene Knip and Edgar Knip were born in Hoorn, The Netherlands. Rene Knip graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts St. Joost, Breda, The Netherlands in 1990 after having spent time living in France and England.

In 1995 Rene Knip started his own graphic design company called Atelier Rene Knip. He combines a craftsman?s use of materials with a personal concept of design in which he works together with authors and poets.

Gebroeders Knip was founded with his brother, Edgar Knip, who is an industrial designer. The brothers use two-dimensional lettering, as created by Rene, to give form and poetry to the three-dimensional structures that Edgar creates. This combination of talents results in graphic objects that are both decorative and functional, such as a fire basket, office clock and a letter lamp. The fire basket is structured with writing so that when the fire burns the words flare up and disappear again. The letter lamp consists of custom- stencilled words, poems or phrases that light up and can be hung on walls or stand freely.