CHRIS HAAS

MAKING FACES

solo exhibition

February 7th - March 2nd, 2025

Opening Reception: First Friday, February 7th, 2025 ​

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Arch Enemy Arts presents MAKING FACES by Colorado-based mixed media artist Chris Haas. A collection of seventeen wall-hanging works express the full range of Haas’ surreal sculptural prowess. The series includes five mounted skulls and skull replicas, meticulously embellished and ranging in size; five fully sculpted fun-house faces that peer through and interact with their ornate, reclaimed and refurbished frames; and seven small-scale peepers, disembodied lover’s eyes that are intimate, precious, and shrouded in colorful mystery. 

 

“My work reflects my desire to reuse, recycle, and repurpose to create new things. Ideas come to me most often when I am low on resources and ‘actual’ art supplies, leading me to use unorthodox materials and repurpose existing objects. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to modifying, customizing, and personifying the inanimate. ‘Making Faces’ is a continuation of that work, but it feels more representative of the full spectrum of my imagination, as I explore characters that invoke a strange and playful energy, encouraging viewers to conjure their own stories about the faces that I’m making.”

 

Haas’ seamless assemblage of disparate objects, reclaimed and refurbished in striking color combinations, his skillful command of clay and use of material to imitate natural textures like leather, wood, and bone, coalesce in these stylistic portrayals of expressive characters–sweeping us away with each disembodied gaze. The peepers’ eyes oscillate between penetrating, longing, and eerily watchful. The sculpted faces are playful and full of life. “Koning” looks bashfully down, perhaps dismayed by his own haunting skeleton. While the grand centerpiece, “Tawruss,” Haas’ largest work in the collection, stares triumphantly ahead, its great and gorgeous ram horns honored under the artist’s reverent hand. Haas' work is mesmerizing and bizarre. And despite the versatile range of this collection, each piece retains a distinct and piercing gaze, the ability to hypnotize, and remain. 

 

Chris Haas is based in southwest Colorado. He is a self-taught artist and musician, and his work is collected internationally. Haas has been exhibiting with Arch Enemy Arts since 2014, and “Making Faces” is his third solo feature with the gallery. 

 

MAKING FACES will be on view from February 5th - March 2nd, 2025
Sold works will begin to ship the week starting March 9th, unless other rush shipping arrangements have been made. Items marked with a red dot have already been sold​