The fascinating retrospective of Hans Haacke in Vienna: art with a statement!

The fascinating retrospective of Hans Haacke in Vienna: art with a statement!

The comprehensive retrospective of the 88-year-old artist Hans Haacke opens at Belvedere 21 in Vienna, realized almost 25 years after his only monographic exhibition in Austria. The show, which was created in collaboration with the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, offers a detailed overview of Haacke's oeuvre and shows the relevance of his work today. As curator Luisa Ziaja emphasized, Haacke is an artist who “believes in the power of fact,” which makes him all the more relevant to current discussions, according to reporting from the Small newspaper.

Diverse work and critical reflections

The exhibition covers Haacke's work from early photographs to current installations, including his critical examination of the history and aftermath of National Socialism. Haacke's works warn against socio-political grievances and address, among other things, racism and the politics of history. Highlights include iconic works such as “News” and the “Great Condensation Cube,” which play with physical and biological experiments and reveal how freely reality unfolds within given framework conditions, reported the Belvedere.

The exhibition also documents important Austrian references, for example Haacke's reformulation of fascist symbolism into a memorial for the victims of National Socialism. The impressive work “Gift Horse” brings the dark topic of stock market prices into focus as part of living art and makes it clear how Haacke also deals with ecological issues. “Haacke is a pioneer of contemporary art,” said General Director Stella Rollig, with which the retrospective honors his outstanding contributions to art history.