Hans Haacke @ Paula Cooper Gallery

534 W. 21st Street, New York, NY

Here’s a show to see not only because of it’s grandeur, but also because of the historical significance of the artist. Hans Haacke, a seminole conceptual artist, presents works from the earliest stages of Haacke’s career in the 60s up to a very recent piece in 2005. It’s basically a mini-retrospective.

I was pretty stoked to see in person a piece that really ruffled a lot of feathers in 1971. Haacke was suppose to have a solo show at the Guggenheim that year, it was installed and ready-to-go when the museum decided to cancel it due to monetary politics over the content of the subject matter. Sol Goldman and Alex DiLorenzo Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, a Real-Time Social System, as of May1, 1971 lists apartment buildings that are owned by two particular real estate lords that unfairly treated their tenants.

Of the various works exhibited my favorite was Wide White Flow is a visually mesmerizing sculpture, part of series of work when Haacke was studying natural processes such as wind. none of the piece remains static, as is everything in Haacke’s ideology be it nature, politics, etc. Staring at it for too long started getting me sea-sick. NYFA has a great interview with Hans Haacke that you can check out here.

This exhibition will run until February 16th, 2008. You can also view his works at the Queens Museum’s “New York State of Mind” exhibit and in the Whitney’s recent acquisitions.

-laser