{"data":{"id":"10735","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":10735,"topgoose_id":3017,"tms_id":10735,"display_name":"Hans Haacke","sort_name":"Haacke Hans","display_date":"1936–","begin_date":"1936","end_date":"0","biography":"\u003cp\u003eHans Haacke began his career as an\nabstract painter and, after joining with the\ninternational artist group Zero, turned\nhis attention to works that engaged systems\nof biological and physical processes. In\n1965 Haacke settled in New York, and by\n1970 embarked on works that explored what\nhe called “social systems,” using a\nconceptual approach that sought to uncover\nthe often concealed ties that exist between\nart and the ideological, economic, and\npolitical powers that underpin its creation,\npresentation, and distribution. \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/29487\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eShapolsky et\nal. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, a\nReal-Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\ndetails two decades of the questionable\ndealings of Harry Shapolsky, the owner of a\nvast empire of slum properties in New\nYork. Haacke sourced all of his information\nfrom the public record, and the work’s\ncomponents—documentary photographs of\nthe buildings, maps, typewritten real estate\nfact sheets—are presented neutrally,\nleaving viewers to unravel the significance\nof the data. \u003cem\u003eStill, Shapolsky et al.\u003c/em\u003e ignited\ncontroversy when its inclusion in the\nplanned 1971 solo exhibition of Haacke’s\nwork at the Guggenheim Museum led\nthe institution’s director to cancel the show\nabruptly and fire the organizing curator.\nThis act of censorship led to speculation\nthat the web of corporate ties documented\nin the piece had come too close to\nthe interests of the museum’s trustees,\nthough this was never proven.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\nSince much of Haacke’s art reflects\non institutions such as museums and\ngalleries—and particularly their connections\nto corporations, governments, and patrons—\nit is often labeled “institutional critique”;\nin the artist’s words, his work “bites the hand\nthat feeds it.”\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500047257","wikidata_id":"Q657647","created_at":"2017-08-31T10:19:39.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-03-31T07:02:58.589-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/10735/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/10735/exhibitions"}}}}