Hans Haacke

Hans Haacke (B. 1936) Reaganomics Michael Evans, Photograph of President Reagan: Michael Evans/The White House colour transparency in black frame and four fixtures with fluorescent tubes 72 x 49in. (183 x 124.5cm) Executed in 1982-83 Galerie Liliane & Michel Durand-Dessert, Paris. Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1989. A. C. Papadakis, German Art Now, London 1989 (illustrated, p. 60). New York, John Weber Gallery, Hans Haacke: Four Works, 1983. London, The Tate Gallery, Hans Haacke, 1984 (illustrated, p. 75). Berlin, Neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Hans Haacke: Nach allen Regeln der Kunst, 1984 (illustrated in colour, p. 77). This exhibition later travelled to Bern, Kunsthalle Bern. New York, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Hans Haacke, Unfinished Business, 1986-87 (illustrated, p. 249). This exhibition later traveled to Saskatoon, Mendel Art Gallery; La Jolla, La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art and Coral Gables, Lowe Art Museum. Paris, Centre George Pompidou, Hans Haacke, Artfairismes, 1989 (illustrated, pp. 46 and 47). Executed in 1982-1983, Reaganomics captures the mood in the United States at the very beginning of Ronald Reagan's presidency. Created by German artist Hans Haacke, the work offers an incisive commentary into the radical economic changes and structural reforms being undertaken by the neo-Conservative leader at the time. It also investigates the discourses of media, cultural and political power by forcing a reexamination of how images are encoded with meaning. The work was conceived as a sister piece to the artist's Homage à Marcel Broodthaers (1982), which entailed the installation of a small portrait of Reagan in a gilded frame behind a red velvet rope at Documenta 7. Reaganomics was created the following year and shortly after the President's son was pictured queuing for the dole in the New York Post on 14th October 1982. Ron Reagan Jr. was quoted as saying: 'I spoke with my mother before I signed on and she OK'd it' (R. Reagan Jr. quoted in I. Rogoff, 'Double Vision: Politics Between Image and Representation', German Art Now, London, 1989, p. 61). In Reaganomics, Haacke parallels the slick, glowing, colour portrait of Reagan with the affirmative language, 'Yes, my son collects unemployment, too! REAGANOMICS'. In doing so, he illuminates the populist and rhetorical effect of the President's words, using the same advertising tactics as those used in commercial practice. The irony lies in the inviting image and the implied camaraderie when the policies of Reaganomics were explicitly geared towards driving back the welfare state, privatisation, liberalisation and the breaking of entrenched labour unions.

hans christophe haacke (american b.1936), helmsboro country (unfolded), silkscreen and cibachrome on card, in two sections, unframed, front section: 101.6 x 45 cm.; 40 x 17 3/4 in. side section: 101.6 x 32 cm.; 40 x 12 1/2 in. (2) this work was executed in 1990 and is number 6 from an edition of 36. provenance john weber gallery, new york literature fundacio antoni tapies, ed., hans haake 'obra social'' barcelona 1995, pp. 192-5, illustration of original installation in colour

Hans Haacke (b. 1936) Condensation Cube perspex and water, household gloss on wooden plinth overall: 43¾ x 12 x 12in. (111.2 x 30.5 x 30.5cm.) Executed in 1963-1965 Lisson Gallery, London. PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF FIONA LOGSDAIL

Hans Haacke (German/American, b. 1936) Dripper, 1968 Plexiglas and water 5" x 14" x 14" Provenance: Private Collection, Princeton