Hans Haacke
Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, a Real-Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971
1971
Not on view
Date
1971
Classification
Photographs
Medium
9 photostats, 142 gelatin silver prints, and 142 photocopies
Dimensions
Dimensions variable
Accession number
2007.148a-gg
Edition
2/2
Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchased jointly by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York with funds from the Director's Discretionary Fund and the Painting and Sculpture Committee, and the Fundació Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
Rights and reproductions
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
A landmark work of institutional critique, Hans Haacke’s Shapolsky et al Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, A Real Time Social System as of May 1, 1971 chronicles the fraudulent activities of one of New York City’s largest slumlords over the course of two decades. The work comprises 146 photographs of Manhattan apartment buildings, mostly tenements; maps of Harlem and the Lower East Side; photographs and charts documenting real estate transactions; and texts with information about the location, ownership structure, and financial histories of the buildings. Haacke culled all of his data from the public record, adapting a neutral presentational style that resembles various contemporaneous projects in Conceptual art. Shapolsky et al. was to be part of the artist’s solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in the spring of 1971, but the show was cancelled six weeks before its scheduled opening.
