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Art & Culture

Six Milestones from the Haas Brothers’ Extraordinary Career

Fusing art, design, and technology, Los Angeles–based twins Nikolai and Simon Haas create otherworldly sculptures, furnishings, and ceramics, a number of which are on view in a major exhibit at the Nasher Sculpture Center

By Jacoba Urist
Two men sitting on wooden steps surrounded by plants and greenery in an outdoor setting.
Artists and designers Nikolai (left) and Simon Haas, who work collaboratively as the Haas Brothers. Photo: Ian Flanigan; COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS
Gold metallic stool with a unique abstract design and textured surface.
Unique Hex stool, (2013). Photo: COURTESY OF HAAS STUDIO

1. 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.”

 

Curved, furry bench with gray and white fur texture and decorative metal legs against a neutral background.
Hairy J. Blige bench, (2014) Photo: Joe Kramm; COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS AND MARIANNE BOESKY GALLERY, NEW YORK AND ASPEN

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.”

Colorful, whimsical yarn sculptures resembling imaginative creatures displayed on a concrete floor.
“Afreaks,” Design Miami/, (2015). Photo: Joe Kramm; COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS AND MARIANNE BOESKY GALLERY, 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.”

Quirky red creature chair with eyes next to vibrant purple palm trees on a wooden floor against a purple wall.
“The Haas Brothers: Ferngully,” (2018). Photo: ZACHARY BALBER, COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS AND MARIANNE BOESKY GALLERY, 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.

Gold skeletal legs with a fluffy purple cone-shaped top resembling a unicorn, standing upright.
“Beast in Show,” (2021). Photo: TIM HANS; COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS AND MARIANNE BOESKY GALLERY, 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.”

Blue abstract sculpture resembling draped figures, set outdoors against lush green trees and stone pathway in a park setting.
An eight-foot-tall Emergent Zoid, an homage to Zoidberg from the animated series Futurama. Photo: Courtesy of the artists, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, and Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin. Photo credit: Todora Photography

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.