The playful, imaginative work of artist twins Simon and Nikolai Haas, founders of the Haas Brothers studio, is unlike anything else in contemporary design. Their surreal hybrid creatures and fantastical plant life sculptures blur the line between art, design, and fantasy, creating a world where anything goes.
From a bright red creature bench hybrid called She’s So Ducky to a glass-blown oversized snail with a friendly smile called Shelly Duvall, each endearing piece looks as though it’s wandered in from another planet. Thankfully, they’ve decided to make themselves at home for a while at New York City’s Museum of Arts and Design for the Haas Brothers: Uncanny Valley exhibition. The show brings together 85 whimsical works created between 2014 and 2025.
Spanning ceramics, glass sculptures, furniture, paintings, and more, the exhibition offers a look at the full breadth of the Haas brothers’ imagination and technical skill. Part of what makes the duo’s work so distinctive is the balance between Simon’s methodical approach and Nikolai’s playful spontaneity. At first glance, their creations appear delightfully chaotic, but many pieces are surprisingly rooted in precise techniques and mathematics.
The duo describe their creative process as “problem-solving fantasies,” combining imagination with meticulous craftsmanship. Their intricate beaded plants, for example, are built using mathematical formulas and bead-weaving techniques that replicate the real proportions and growth patterns found in nature.
The exhibition takes its name from the unsettling “uncanny valley” feeling we often experience when something appears almost—but not quite—human. The Haas Brothers embrace that awkwardness, creating whimsical creatures and anthropomorphic objects that balance the familiar with the fantastical. The twins believe that by making their weird and wonderful forms seem cute and harmless, the “uncanny valley” feeling turns from discomfort into empathy.
You can visit the Haas Brothers: Uncanny Valley at New York City’s Museum of Arts and Design until August 16, 2026. The exhibition is accompanied by the duo’s first comprehensive monograph, a beautifully illustrated 256-page book published by Phaidon that offers a deeper look into the artists’ wonderfully strange world.
The surreal hybrid creatures by Simon and Nikolai Haas blur the line between art, design, and fantasy.
85 of the twins’s whimsical works are now on show at New York City’s Museum of Arts and Design at the Haas Brothers: Uncanny Valley exhibition.
Spanning ceramics, glass sculptures, furniture, paintings, and more, the exhibition offers a look at the full breadth of the Haas brothers’ imagination and technical skill.
Each endearing piece looks as though it’s wandered in from another planet.
Exhibition Information:
Haas Brothers
Haas Brothers: Uncanny Valley
April 11–August 16, 2026
Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle, New York City
The Haas Brothers: Website | Instagram | Facebook
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by The Haas Brothers.
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