TL;DR
Get art and craft supplies delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
The Blanton Museum of Art in Austin is presenting Uncanny Valley, a large-scale survey of the work of twin artists Nikolai and Simon Haas. The exhibition brings together sculpture, figurative furniture, plush characters and illuminated installations, and is scheduled to remain on view through Jan. 17 before moving to the Mint Museum in Charlotte.
The Blanton Museum of Art in Austin is presenting Uncanny Valley, a large-scale survey of twin artists Nikolai and Simon Haas, bringing together fantastical sculpture, figurative furniture, plush characters and illuminated installations. The exhibition is the duo’s first mid-career survey and is scheduled to remain on view through Jan. 17, 2027, before traveling to the Mint Museum in Charlotte.
Working together as the Haas Brothers, Nikolai and Simon Haas have collaborated since 2010. Their work is known for combining recognizable forms from flora and fauna with surreal, playful details. At the Blanton, the range includes furniture built around figures, cartoonish plush characters and light-based installations, alongside sculptural works that blur distinctions between the natural and the artificial.
One example cited in the exhibition coverage is a strawberry tree that appears markedly unfamiliar in the gallery setting. The artists’ interest in technology and its implications informs their recurring use of forms that feel at once organic and constructed. The show presents works from across their career rather than focusing on a single medium or series.
Uncanny Valley has previously been shown at Cranbrook Art Museum and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, according to the report by Colossal. Austin is a personal as well as exhibition setting: the brothers lived in the city from ages 3 to 19. The exhibition is scheduled to close there Jan. 17 and continue to its final planned venue, the Mint Museum in Charlotte.
A Survey Returns to the Brothers’ Austin
The exhibition brings a broad selection of the Haas Brothers’ work to a city closely tied to their early lives. That connection gives the Austin presentation an added local dimension: the artists’ childhood years overlapped with the rise of “Keep Austin Weird” as an informal civic ethos, which the report describes as an early influence on their sensibility. The show does not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship, but it places their playful, unconventional work within that personal history.
For visitors, the survey offers a chance to encounter work that crosses familiar categories such as sculpture, design and installation. Its focus on the artificial and the natural also makes the artists’ interest in how people respond to humanlike or living-seeming forms visible across different materials and objects. The planned move to Charlotte will extend the exhibition beyond Austin, though the source does not provide details about the next venue’s presentation.
artificial organic sculpture figurative furniture
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Austin Childhood to Survey
Nikolai and Simon Haas are Los Angeles-based artists who have worked together as the Haas Brothers since 2010. Their shared practice includes sculptural objects and furniture as well as characters and installations. Rather than treating these categories separately, their work often combines them, using humorous or exaggerated forms to make objects seem part creature, part product or part imagined species.
The title refers to the uncanny valley, a term commonly associated with robotics. It describes a response in which a humanlike object can seem more disturbing as it approaches human likeness, after initially appearing more relatable. In a statement for the exhibition, Simon Haas connects that idea to the duo’s work and says the theme became apparent when looking back across their career. The show has already appeared at Cranbrook Art Museum and New York’s Museum of Arts and Design before its Austin presentation.
““When the robot becomes too human, empathy switches to revulsion.””
— Simon Haas, in a statement for the exhibition
illuminated art installations for home
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Details of the Charlotte Presentation
The available report gives the Austin exhibition’s closing date as Jan. 17 and identifies the Mint Museum in Charlotte as its final planned location, but it does not specify the Charlotte opening date, the duration there or whether the works on view will be identical. The provided material also does not state attendance figures, visitor response or any accompanying public programs at the Blanton.
The exhibition’s account of the brothers’ Austin upbringing and the city’s “Keep Austin Weird” ethos is presented as context for their practice. The source does not claim that the slogan alone shaped their artistic approach. Further interpretation of individual works should be attributed to the artists or exhibition materials rather than treated as established fact.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
The Survey Moves to Charlotte
The Blanton presentation is scheduled to continue through Jan. 17, 2027. After that, Uncanny Valley is due to travel to the Mint Museum in Charlotte, its final planned venue. The source material does not give a date for that presentation or further details about its layout.
An accompanying monograph shares the exhibition’s title, according to Colossal. Visitors seeking practical information, including current hours and admission details, should check the Blanton Museum’s own listings, as those details are not included in the source report.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Key Questions
What is Uncanny Valley?
Uncanny Valley is a large-scale survey of work by twin artists Nikolai and Simon Haas, shown at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin. It includes sculpture, figurative furniture, plush characters and illuminated installations.
Who are the Haas Brothers?
Nikolai and Simon Haas are twin artists who have collaborated as the Haas Brothers since 2010. Their practice combines fantastical forms with playful and surreal details.
How long is the exhibition in Austin?
The show is scheduled to remain at the Blanton through Jan. 17, 2027. The source material does not list opening hours or admission information.
Where will Uncanny Valley go after Austin?
The exhibition is scheduled to travel to the Mint Museum in Charlotte. A Charlotte opening date and the length of that presentation were not provided in the report.
Source: rss
Halloween Picks
halloween
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
