Hans Haacke was born in Cologne, Germany on August 12, 1936. He studied at the Staatliche Werkakademie in Kassel, Germany from 1956-60 and was a student of Stanley William Hayter, a well-known and influential English printmaker, draftsman, and painter. From 1961-62 he studied on a Fulbright grant at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University and returned to Germany and taught at Pädagogische Hochschule in Kettwig from 1963-65. During his formative years in Germany, he was a member of the international group of artists known as the Zero group (active c. 1957-66), who wanted to re-harmonize man and nature and to restore art’s metaphysical dimension. Zero group used nontraditional materials, such as industrial materials, fire and water, light, and kinetic effects to create works that were monochromatic, geometric, kinetic, and gestural.

In most of his work after the late 1960s, Haacke focused on the art world and the system of exchange between museums and corporations and corporate leaders; he often underlines its effects in site-specific ways. Haacke used data and records that were readily available to the public and incorporated them into his works. Despite being critical of museum institutions and their shady practices, he continued to show his works in the mainstream museum and gallery system, as they were the only places where his messages could have an impact.