BY JACOBA URIST
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Unique Hex stool, (2013)
Premiering three years after Nikolai and Simon Haas joined forces, this now iconic stool, with its rounded feet and brass tiles, causes a stir among collectors anytime an example hits the auction block. Simon—the computational, math mind— was inspired by a hexagonal rod in their studio. “He came up with a three-leg stool, and I started sculpting them,” recalls Nikolai. “I joke that I’m the sweat and he’s the brain.”
Unique Hex stool, 2013.
Photo: Courtesy of the Haas Studio.
2. Hairy J. Blige bench, (2014)
From the brothers’ first solo show at R & Company in New York, the seating’s goatlike ebony horns and Icelandic sheepskin embody their signature animalistic language, which they describe as a shared escapist fantasy. “I’m a sculptural humorist,” says Nikolai. “I make something that’s totally static, but it makes you laugh.”
Hairy J. Blige bench, 2014.
Photo: Joe Kramm; Courtesy of the Artists and Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York and Aspen.
3. “Afreaks,” Design Miami/, (2015)
After discovering the whimsical creations of Monkeybiz at a Cape Town craft bazaar in 2013, the Haas Brothers began an ongoing collaboration with the women’s collective, which harnesses traditional South African beading to astounding effect. “As sculptors, you wind up having fabricators that help you,” explains Simon. “We wanted to bring the work to places where it had a greater economic impact and we could be more involved.”
“Afreaks,” Design Miami/, (2015).
Photo: Joe Kramm; Courtesy of the Artists and Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York and Aspen.
4. “The Haas Brothers: Ferngully,” (2018)
The pair’s first institutional exhibition, at The Bass in Miami Beach, was an inflection point. “People were like, ‘Okay, they are artists.’ We belong as part of the conversation,” says Nikolai. Inspired by the 1992 animated film FernGully: The Last Rainforest, the show conjured a wondrous “imaginarium” for the wider public—featuring the brothers’ partnership with an intergenerational group of women beaders from Lost Hills, California.
“The Haas Brothers: Ferngully.” 2018.
Photo: Zachary Balber; Courtesy of the Artists and Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York and Aspen.
5. “Beast in Show,” (2021)
An exhibition at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia, took the Haas Brothers to new heights with a collection of larger-than-life shaggy, faux-fur characters, displayed alongside miniature “beasts” sporting names like Antenna Nicole Smith (2019) and Snailor Moon (2020). The sculptures are emotional portraits of friends, the brothers say, or traits they see in themselves. “We try to make work that anybody can enjoy,” explains Nikolai. “We dive into our fantasy to escape everything else.”
“Beast in Show,” 2021.
Photo: Tim Hans, Courtesy of the Artists and Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York and Aspen.
6. “The Haas Brothers: Moonlight,” (2024)
Following a May presentation of new work at Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas hosts an installation in the sculpture garden (on view through August 25) that includes Moon Towers, inspired by streetlights from the brothers’ Austin, Texas, childhood. An eight-foot-tall Emergent Zoid (left), an homage to Zoidberg from the animated series Futurama, joins the museum’s permanent collection.
“The Haas Brothers: Monlight,” 2024.
Photo: Charles White, Courtesy of the Artists and Jeffrey Deitch Gallery.
