Image Above: Hans Haacke, Condensation Cube , 1963–65. Clear acrylic, distilled water, and climate in area of display, 12 x 12 x 12 in (30.5 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm). © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and PaulaCooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke
Opening October 24, the New Museum in New York presents ‘Hans Haacke: All Connected,’ a retrospective of the radical artist Hans Haacke (b. 1936, Cologne Germany). Haacke is an avant-garde artist whose work has had a profound impact on contemporary art. His work has been difficult for the art world to pin down but its importance cannot be understated.
Haacke’s work is often overly simplified to labels such as political art, environmental art, or capitalist critique. Whichever narrow definition critics ascribe it, they miss the greater point: that Haacke investigates systems and their properties whether it be social, political, environmental, or otherwise. This retrospective from the New Museum is the first major American museum to survey Haacke’s work in over thirty years.
It will take viewers through the radical, surreal, and even uncomfortable investigations that Haacke has undertaken over the past fifty years. Haacke is an artist who has not hesitated to investigate touchy topics even those closest to his practice. For example, works from the 70s and 80s investigated corporate sponsorships of major art institutions and the provenance and restitution of museum collections.
One of our favorite works, “Circulation,” 1969, uses two pneumatic water pumps and a network of tubes to create a metaphor that traces intrinsic qualities of capitalist systems and similar phenomenon. Explore a selection of the works below. Images courtesy of the New Museum.
The retrospective runs:
10/24/19 – 01/26/20
New Museum
235 Bowery, New York, NY 10002
Hours :
Tuesday & Wednesday: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Thursday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday–Sunday: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Child eyeing Hans Haacke’s Large Water Level, 1964–65. Installation view: “Miscellaneous Notions of Kinetic Sculpture,” Hayden Gallery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1967. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Hans Haacke, Grass Grows, 1967–69. Earth and grass. Installation view: “Earth Art,” Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1969. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke, Circulation, 1969. Water, air bubbles, circulating pump, plastic tubing, and connectors, dimensions variable. Installation view: Howard Wise Gallery, New York, 1969. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke, Gallery-Goers’ Birthplace and Residence Profile, Part 1, 1969. Printed map on corkboard and red and blue pins, 64 1/4 x 88 x 2 in (163.2 x 223.5 x 5.1 cm). Installation view: Howard Wise Gallery, New York, 1969. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke, Gallery-Goers’ Residence Profile, Part 2, 1970 (detail). 732 black-and-white photographs and 189 typewritten cards, 4 7/8 x 7 1/8 in (12.5 x 18 cm) each. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke, Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, a Real-Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971, 1971. Installation view: 38th Venice Biennale, 1978. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke, Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, a Real-Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971, 1971 (detail). 142 black-and-white photographs, 142 typewritten cards, two excerpts from city map, and six charts, photograph and map: 10 x 8 in (25.4 x 20.3 cm) each (diptych), excerpts from map and charts: 24 x 20 in (61 x 50.8 cm) each. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Hans Haacke, Taking Stock (unfinished), 1983–84. Oil on canvas and gilded frame, 95 x 80 7/8 x 7 in (241 x 205.5 x 18 cm). © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Zindman/Fremont, New York
Hans Haacke, Sky Line, 1967. Nylon fishing line, helium, and balloons. Installation view: “Kinetic Environment II,” Central Park, New York, October 29, 1967. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke, Condensation Cube, 1963–65. Clear acrylic, distilled water, and climate in area of display, 12 x 12 x 12 in (30.5 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm). © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke, DER BEVÖLKERUNG [TO THE POPULATION], 2008. C-print on Alu-Dibond, 91 3/8 x 70 in (232 x 178 cm). © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Hans Haacke, Gift Horse, 2014. Bronze with black patina and wax-finish stainless steel fasteners and supports, and 5 mm flexible LED display with stainless steel armature and polycarbonate face, 183 x 169 x 65 in (464.8 x 429.3 x 165.1 cm). Commissioned by the Mayor of London’s Fourth Plinth Program. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Gautier Deblonde
Hans Haacke, Oil Painting: Homage to Marcel Broodthaers (Oelgemalde, Hommage à Marcel Broodthaers), 1982 (detail). Oil on canvas, gilded frame, bronze plaque, stanchions, red velvet rope, picture lamp, red carpet, and photomural, dimensions variable. Installation view: documenta 7, Kassel, Germany, 1982. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Udo Reuschling
Hans Haacke, News, 1969/2008. RSS newsfeed, paper, and printer, dimensions and choice of news sources variable. Installation view: Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, 2008. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Ellen Wilson
Hans Haacke, Wide White Flow, 1967/2008. Electric fans and white silk, dimensions variable. Installation view: Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, 2008. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Ellen Wilson
Hans Haacke, MetroMobiltan, 1985. Fiberglass construction, three banners, and photomural, 132 1/8 x 240 x 60 in (335.6 x 609.6 x 152.4 cm). Installation view: John Weber Gallery, New York, 1985. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Fred Scruton
Hans Haacke, MoMA Poll, 1970. Two transparent ballot boxes with automatic counters and color-coded ballots, boxes: 40 x 20 x 10 in (101.6 x 50.8 x 25.4 cm) each, ballots: 3 x 2 1/2 in (7.6 x 6.4 cm) each. Installation view: “Information,” Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1970. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Hans Haacke, Wir (Alle) sind das Volk [We (All) Are the People], 2003/2017. Banners and posters, banners: 200 3/4 × 86 in (510 × 220 cm) each; posters: 59 × 46 in (175 × 120 cm) each. Installation view: documenta 14, Rotes Palais, Friedrichsplatz, Kassel, Germany, 2017. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke, Water in Wind, 1968. Spray nozzles, pump, water, and wind. Installation view: 95 East Houston Street, New York. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Hans Haacke