Hans Haacke was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1936. He has lived in New York since 1965. He has been awarded numerous prizes for his work including the Golden Lion of the Biennale di Venezia in 1993. Haacke initially became involved, initially with physical and biological systems, with living animals, plants, the physical states of water, and wind. In 1966 he introduced the legendary Condensation Cube (1963-65) at the Howard Wise Gallery in New York. There, in 1969, Haacke also carried out his first visitors’ polls in the Gallery Goers’ Birth Place and Residence Profile which would be followed by a series of further projects of this kind. His solo exhibition, scheduled to go on at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1971 was cancelled as the director at that time wanted to censor three of his works. Haacke’s artistic practice grew increasingly into a concentrated analysis of and reflection on socio-political structures by employing investigative methods to focus attention on the machinations of individual politicians and companies. His projects have occasionally resulted in very heated debates, which Haacke considers to be a part of his artistic work.
CAPTIONS
- “Once Upon a Time,” 2010, Como, Italy.
- “Castles in The Sky,” 2012, Museo nacional centro de arte Reina Sofía, Madrid.
- Helmsboro Country, 1990
