Inside The Haas Brothers’ Extraordinary Universe

By Ashley Knight

The Bass is presenting “Ferngully,” The Haas Brothers’ first solo museum exhibition. Based in Los Angeles, twins Nikolai and Simon Haas are artists, designers and creative producers. They founded The Haas Brothers in 2010, and since then have straddled the worlds of art and design, frequently departing from the functional and moving towards the exclusively sculptural. Playful and sometimes irreverent, they create furniture and sculptural objects in the form of anthropomorphic hairy chaises, fantastical beaded chairs and fungi, and hand-layered, liquid-clay accretion vases that explore themes of mathematics, science and nature, sexuality, nostalgia and social equity.

The Haas Brothers. Photo: Joe Kramm. Courtesy of the artists and R & Company.

“Ferngully” takes its title from the 1992 animated film, FernGully: The Last Rainforest.¹ Set within a magical rainforest, it traces the adventure of two unlikely comrades, a fairy named Crysta and a lumberjack named Zak, as they work to save Crysta’s home from devastation. Referencing the fantastical spirit of the film, the works on view are deeply rooted in the awe-inspiring and sublime qualities of the natural environment yet removed from overt notions of advocacy.

“The Haas Brothers: Ferngully,” installation view, December 5, 2018 to April 21, 2019, The Bass. Photo: Zachary Balber. Courtesy of The Bass, Miami Beach.

“Ferngully” positions the viewer in an immersive installation that evokes cycles of renewal and rebirth found in nature. At the entrance, the viewer is simultaneously welcomed and confronted by a crowd of beasts - an emblematic series in the brothers’ eight-year practice. Exquisitely crafted in sumptuous materials, these creatures are endowed with diverse personalities, genders, sexualities, races, and human and animal characteristics. The inventive taxonomy, presented in a range of sizes (micro to mini to full-sized, and even functional), represents a complex ecosystem and multi-ethnic community, undercut by a witty and playful sense of humor.

When the instance is finished, you will receive a confirmation message, levitra pills and the firm will start working on that order. Bring back the macho man in you with these pills and make your woman cheapest levitra feel amazing and energetic. If a generic cialis prescriptions person is unable to take doctors assistance then he can definitely refer this manual. vardenafil india But, medication cure etc. can aid treating the misbalance of hormone.

“The Haas Brothers: Ferngully,” installation view, December 5, 2018 to April 21, 2019, The Bass. Photo: Zachary Balber. Courtesy of The Bass, Miami Beach.

Collaboration is key in The Haas Brothers’ artistic practice, working with artisans, craft guilds and other creative partners to produce their artworks. For ”Ferngully,” they partnered with the ladies of Lost Hills in California to create the palm trees’ date pods. The world of The Haas Brothers finds a recurring foundation in the communal act of craft making. As in “FernGully” the film, their practice utilizes an ever-widening community and builds a sense of comradery among themselves and fellow artisans around the world.

The Haas Brothers, Tequila Sunrise, Large Accretion, 2016, 36" x 24." Courtesy of the artists, R & Company, New York and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen. © The Haas Brothers. Photo: Joe Kramm.

Nikolai and Simon Haas have previously exhibited in group shows at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York and San Jose Museum of Art in California. Their work is in the permanent collections of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum in Providence, R.I., as well as the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. They are also the recipients of the 2019 Arison Award from the National YoungArts Foundation.

“Ferngully” is on view through April 21^st, 2019. The Bass is located at 2100 Collins Avenue. Miami Beach, FL 33139. | www.thebass.org.

Ashley Knight is an arts writer based in Miami, Fla.

Notes

1.    FernGully: The Last Rainforest is a 1992 animated musical fantasy film directed by Bill Kroyer and scripted by Jim Cox. Adapted from the book of the same name by Diana Young, the film is an Australian and American venture produced by Kroyer Films, Inc., Youngheart Productions and FAI Films.