The Museum of Arts and Design in New York is currently hosting a mid-career retrospective of the work of fraternal twins Simon and Nikolai Haas, known collectively as the Haas Brothers. The exhibition, organized by the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and curated by Laura Mott, runs through August 16. It presents a collection of the brothers’ sculptures, functional objects, and installations characterized by a playful, surreal aesthetic that blends craftsmanship with whimsy.

Raised in Austin, Texas, in a creatively charged household with artistic parents—grandfather Siegfried worked in bronze, their father Berthold in stone, and their mother Emily Tracy was both an opera singer and a television writer—the Haas Brothers have developed a distinctive visual language that combines various influences. Their works channel elements from surrealism, pop culture, animation, puppetry, and folk art traditions such as Mexican papier-mâché, resulting in what the brothers describe as a “fantastical bestiary” of hybrid creatures and objects.

The exhibition features pieces with playful and sometimes provocative titles, including “Shelly Duvall” (2023), a blown-glass snail with marble elements, and “King Dong,” a humanoid yeti sculpture that boldly exposes brass genitalia. Many objects appear functional—chairs, benches, vases—but subtly subvert their intended use, often designed to be precarious or unusable, embodying the brothers’ interest in blurring the lines between art and design. A 2014 installation titled “Sex Room” sparked controversy at the Miami Design Show because of its explicit nature and unusual classification, highlighting the duo’s tendency to challenge traditional boundaries.

Materiality and craftsmanship are central to the Haas Brothers’ work. Their pieces incorporate an array of textures such as Icelandic and Mongolian sheepskins, Finnish reindeer hide, black walnut, marble, and glow-in-the-dark glass. While the tactile quality is evident, the sculptures and furniture are fragile and mounted behind protective barriers. The brothers invest considerable time in labor-intensive techniques, including collaborations with artisans like the South African bead collective Monkeybiz, who contributed to the beaded “Mary Tyler Spore” (2015). The Haas Twins themselves engage in meticulous processes, as demonstrated in their “Accretions” series, where porcelain vessels are coated layer by layer with slip—liquid clay—to create encrusted, stalactite-like surfaces.

In a joint catalogue essay, the Haas Brothers assert their aim to imbue inanimate objects with personality and a sense of sentience by simplifying forms, exaggerating gestures, and incorporating humor. Their philosophy embraces the idea that art can aestheticize threats or discomfort, serving as a protective “talisman” against the harshness of the world. Simon Haas describes beauty as both a veil and a bridge between comfort and horror, positioning their work as machines for distraction that invite viewers into a space between whimsy and unease.

Critics note that while the exhibition’s rich imagination and technical skill are captivating, the frequent emphasis on intellectual frameworks—drawn from Freud’s “uncanny valley” concept and the writings of cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter—may overburden the delicate, often adorably surreal sculptures with theoretical weight. Despite this, the show encapsulates the Haas Brothers’ ongoing commitment to producing joy through intricate, boundary-pushing objects that challenge conventional notions of functionality and art.