Hans Haacke's controversial piece Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, A Real-Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971 (1971) produces an abstraction of the social relationships between the wealthy and the evicted. Shapolsky, a wealthy New York land owner and landlord, happened to also be the owner of more slums than any other land owner in the city. The work thus illustrates the many ways in which the wealthy leech on the poor for the source of their money. The work was so controversial at the time that the Guggenheim Museum, where it was intended to debut, cancelled the show - the understated implication being that Shapolsky probably gave money to the Museum and did not want his name to be contaminated.
I saw this work recently at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona recently and was totally blown away. when you compare this piece which fearlessly combines aesthetics with an acute social awareness it completely renders today's kiss-as excuses like the Brit-art bullshit to the ashcan of history.
ReplyDeleteGo see it.
Oh really, so it is really controversial. Where can I see the piece? Is it only one or it has a replica?
ReplyDeleteGreat to incorporate this feature on internal system such as a booking system. I get some value by creating linking to properties...
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