It’s difficult to define the art from these brothers who are based in Los Angeles. They have everything from furry horned and legged armchairs, to multicoloured mutant vases and lamps that hold phallic elements, which make fun of the concept of traditional furniture. Their work can be found in the permanent collections of both renowned art and design museums as the LACMA, in Los Angeles; or the Smithsonian Design Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Their pieces are sold at extremely high price points, which is why many consider that their goal is to just troll the art scene.
THE HAAS BROTHERS, SURREAL AND IRREVERENT
Furniture, sculptures, plush toys or even monsters; call them what you will. However, what’s clear here is that once you see one of The Haas Brother’s works of art, you won’t be able to take your eyes off of them. They’re hypnotic, surreal, openly sexual and irreverent. And that’s because brothers Nikolai and Simon Haas, who started making pieces for the actor Tobey Maguire in 2009, create objects that blur the frontier that separates what’s functional from what’s merely artistic or conceptual.
Be it as it may, what we can’t deny is the time and effort that each piece requires, as they’re all hand made and their construction process can last several weeks. Another undeniable component is their total originality, that has caught the eye of the likes of Lady Gaga or Donatella Versace, whether it be for their shapes, colours or sexual nature; they even went as far as creating an installation which they brought the Art Basel Miami last year under the name of Sex Room. They say “we think of our pieces as a conversation with people, so by using sex and humour we’re immediately having a real conversation with people. (…) By making people laugh it brings their guard down and we’re all on the same page – that’s the whole point.”
