Hans Haacke

Hans Haacke (born 1936) is a German-born artist based in New York whose work since the 1960s has constituted one of the most sustained and rigorous practices of institutional critique in postwar art. Initially associated with kinetic and systems-based work, Haacke developed from the early 1970s a practice of documentary installation that exposes the political, financial and corporate structures underpinning art institutions and their sponsors. Key works include Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, a Real-Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971, whose cancellation by the Guggenheim Museum became a landmark in the history of institutional censorship, and MetroMobiltan (1985), which addressed Mobil Oil’s sponsorship of the Metropolitan Museum and its relationship to apartheid South Africa. Haacke represented Germany at the Venice Biennale in 1993, winning the Golden Lion.

  • The Power of the City / The City of Power, Whitney Museum of American Art, 1992, front cover, aerial photograph of Manhattan, black-and-white, $5 retail sticker The Power of the City, Whitney ISP, 1992, pp. 18–19, Dennis Adams, Bus Shelter II, 1984–86; David Hammons, Bliz-aard Ball Sale, 1983, black-and-white

    THE POWER OF THE CITY / THE CITY OF POWER, Whitney ISP Papers No. 1, 1992

    THE POWER OF THE CITY / THE CITY OF POWER, Whitney ISP Papers No. 1, 1992

  • Exhibition poster, Hans Haacke, Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, 1979. Offset lithograph, double-sided, 42 × 54 cm. Front side: Farsi calligraphic text within ornamental border, Philips logo, Dutch caption text below. Corporate language repurposed as institutional critique. Exhibition poster, Hans Haacke, Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, 1979. Offset lithograph, double-sided, 42 × 54 cm. Reverse side: three black-and-white photographic reproductions with captions, Philips branding. Good vintage condition with original folds and handling marks.

    Hans Haacke — Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, 1979

    Hans Haacke — Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, 1979