Hans Haacke was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1936. He began to study art at the Staatliche Werkakademie in Kassel but soon moved to Philadelphia to attend the Tyler School of Art at Temple University on a Fulbright scholarship. Haacke works with both modern painting and sculpture. Works like the Condensation Cube (below) are iconic of his early style, characterized by the use of unusual materials. Haacke’s work became more political in the late 1960s, a reflection of the artist himself, who was mobilized by the anti-war movement. It was around this time that Haacke acted as the driving force behind the American boycott of the X São Paulo Bienal. He equated the war effort in Vietnam to American support of the military government in Brazil in a pro-boycott manifesto written in 1969:

“The American Government pursues an immoral war in Vietnam and vigorously supports fascist regimes in Brazil and in other areas of the world … All expositions of the American government are made to promote the image and the politics of this government … The energy of artists is channeled to serve a politics that these same artists scorn with good reason.”

Haacke went on to have a successful career well into the 2000s, with his work displayed in the world’s most prestigious galleries, such as the Guggenheim and the MoMA in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Centre George Pompidou in Paris. He lives in New York.