The Art PowerLyst 2011: ArtLyst’s Alternative 100

ArtReview Power 100 2011

Every October, the art community eagerly anticipates the release of ArtReview’s Power 100, the list that promises to provide ‘a comprehensive listing of the art world’s most powerful figures’. But, something is amiss: with misguided criteria such as ‘sheer financial clout’, ArtReview’s Power 100 is dominated by commercial gallery owners, big-buck artists, and corrupt auctioneers.

ArtLyst believes that merit should not be squeezed out for the sake of the wallet, so we have created our own alternative list. Instead of a Machiavellian Power List that privileges the fat cats, we have put together a Resourceful PowerLyst that celebrates exactly what it says on the tin – not those with the fiscal muscle to bend the artworld into whatever shape they please, but those with the creative power and ability to influence and augment the British and international art scenes through merit alone.

Out go the Larry Gagosian’s, the Damien Hirsts, the Charles Saatchi’s. In come the organisers of Hackney WickED, the Director of Peckham Space, and the heads of art schools across the country. Yes: finally order has been restored.

Art PowerLyst 100 Top 20:

1. Chris Dercon: new Director of Tate Modern with an enthusiasm for ‘mixing it up’, formerly the director of the Haus der Kunst, Munich.

2. Hans Ulrich Obrist: Serpentine Gallery’s Co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects, and author of The Interview Project.

3. Nicholas Serota: Director of the Tate (1988-present) and the driving force behind the opening of the Tate Modern. Has participated on the board of The Architecture Foundation and chaired the Turner Prize jury.

4. Gregor Muir: Executive Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and the man responsible for turning around the fortunes of the ICA in 2011. He is also the author of Lucky Kunst: The Rise and Fall of Young British Art in 2010.

5. Anita Zabludowicz: founded the Zabludowicz Collection in 2007, a space for exhibitions, commissions and residencies, as well as establishing the Zabludowicz Collection ‘Curatorial Open’ and ‘Testing Ground’ programmes to promote contemporary art education. She is also a key sponsor of the upcoming Sunday Art Fair.

6. Ai Weiwei: Chinese contemporary artist and political activist, awarded Das Glas der Vernuft Kassel citizen award in 2010, and serving as an Artistic consultant for the 2008 Olympics Bejing National Stadium.

7. James Lingwood: Co-Director of Artangel since 1991, responsible for building  Artangel into a significant international commissioning and producing organisation.

8. Wolfgang Tillmans: the first photographer to be awarded the Turner Prize in 2000, published Wolfgang Tillmans: Abstract Pictures this year, and currently exhibiting solo shows in Paris, Warsaw and New York.

9. Anthony d’Offay: British art collector, opened the Anthony d’offay Gallery (1980-2002), his collection generously donated to the Tate/NGS is now touring the UK under the title Artist’s Rooms.

10. Kate Bush: Head of Barbican Art Galleries, made multiple TV appearances on the subject of Art, and even been mentioned in a Harry Hill sketch.

11. Gerhard Richter: one of the most important artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, currently with a major retrospective exhibition at the Tate Modern (Panorama), whose career started as part of the Capitalist Realists collective.

12. Godfrey Worsdale: Director of the BALTIC centre for contemporary art, Gateshead, responsible for hosting the Turner Prize 2011, Vice Chairman of the UK’s Visual Art and Galleries Association, and selector for the 2011 Threadneedle Prize for Painting and Sculpture.

13. Christian Marclay: Swiss-American visual artist and composer, most recently exhibited at the 2011 Venice Biennale where he won the Golden Lion for his piece The Clock.

14. Jenni Lomax: Director of Camden Arts Centre, led the major refurbishment of the centre that was completed in 2004.

15. James Brett: art collector and curator of the Museum of Everything, Britain’s first museum for self-taught and Outsider artists.

16. Kirsty Ogg: curator at the Whitechapel Gallery and of the London Open, and Lecturer in Curating at Goldsmiths, University of London.

17. Susan Philipsz: Scottish artist, nominated for the Becks Futures Award in 2003, won the Turner Prize in 2010, and commissioned to create a sound installation in 2011 by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

18. Marina Abramovic: Serbian New York-based artist, and the self-professed ‘grandmother of performance art’, who began her ground-breaking career in the early 1970s.

19. Andrew Nairne: Director of Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, Chair of the Visual Arts and Galleries Association (VAGA), and former Director of  Modern Art Oxford.

20. Polly Staple: Director of London’s Chisenhale Gallery, contributing editor to Frieze, on jury panel for Max Mara Art Prize for Women  2009- 2011, and one of the Guardian’s 2010 ‘women to watch’.

Complete Art PowerLyst 100 in Alphabetical Order:

1. *Marina Abramovic: Serbian New York-based artist, and the self-professed ‘grandmother of performance art’, who began her ground-breaking career in the early 1970s.

2. John Aiken: Slade Professor at the Slade School of Fine Art, has exhibited internationally at shows such as ‘Fourteen Artists/Fourteen Years’ (2006), Portland Art Museum and ‘The Disembodied Eye, Collective histories of Northern Irish Art’ (2007), Belfast.

3. Ron Arad: award-winning Israeli industrial designer, artist, and architect – a central figure in contemporary design.

4. Michael Archer: Programme Director of BA Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, art critic and freelance writer, contributing regularly to the Guardian Culture section on contemporary art from 1960 onwards.

5. Ziba Ardalan: founder and Director/Curator of Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, a privately-funded educational charity and a not-for-profit art gallery.

6. Bill Arning: Director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, former curator of the List Visual Arts Centre, MIT, and a freelance writer.

7. Peter Aspden: Financial Times Arts and Culture columnist, has been writing a weekly column on contemporary culture since January 2004, and was previously the Art Editor and general feature writer at the Weekend FT.

8. John Baldessari: American conceptual artist, awarded the Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion at the 2009 Venice Biennale.

9. Banksy: English Graffiti artist, who started out as part of the Bristol Underground scene. His distinctive graffiti pieces have been found worldwide, including the Israeli-West Bank Barrier, and in 2010 he released his first feature film ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’.

10. Fiona Banner: YBA shortlisted for the 2002 Turner Prize, currently exhibiting Snoopy Vs The Red Baron at Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin, and in the Women War Artists show at Imperial War Museum, London.

11. Gareth Bell-Jones: Curator at Wysing Arts centre, Cambridge, has written articles for Artvehicle and Contemporary Magazine, chaired symposiums at Cafe Oto, and is also currently Assistant Curator at Sound Threshold.

12. Etienne Bernard: art critic for the French art magazine 02, independent curator, and Director of the International Poster and Graphic Design Festival of Chaumont from 2005-2007.

13. Iwona Blazwick: Director of Art at the Whitechapel Gallery, former Head of Exhibitions and Displays at Tate Modern, and Chair of Cultural Strategy Group, London.

14. *James Brett: art collector and curator of the Museum of Everything, Britain’s first museum for self-taught and Outsider artists.

15. AA Bronson: one third of the legendary artist collective General Idea (1969-1994) with Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal.

16. Trisha Brown: Postmodernist Artist, dancer and choreographer, inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 2000, and awarded the National Medal for Arts in 2002.

17. *Kate Bush: Head of Barbican Art Galleries, made multiple TV appearances on the subject of Art, and even been mentioned in a Harry Hill sketch.

18. John Cassy: Director of Sky Arts, a cluster of channels dedicated to highbrow arts, including fine art, theatre, film and music.

19. Romain Chenais: French London-based art critic and independent curator, curated the first major retrospective of British filmmaker John Smith at the Royal College of Art.

20. David Chipperfield: Modernist architect, with two buildings shortlisted for the 2007 RIBA Stirling Prize, and  winning with the Museum of Modern Literature, Marbach.

21. Matthew Collings: began his career on Artscribe, before producing and presenting The Late Show for BBC, and is still involved with broadcasting on productions such as School of Saatchi and the 2010 BBC documentary ‘Renaissance Revolution’. He also lectures at the City and Guilds London School of Art.

22. Peter Cook: Founder of Archigram, currently practises with Gavin Robotham as Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau (CRAB), previously the Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the Bartlett School of Architecture.

23. Sacha Craddock: art critic and curator, Programme Director of Max Wigram gallery, curator of the Bloomberg Space, tutor at the RCA, Chair of New Contemporaries, and sat on the 2009 Turner Prize judging panel.

24. Michael Craig-Martin: Emeritus Professor of Fine Art at Goldsmiths London, previously a tutor at Goldsmiths where he fostered the talent of many of the YBAs. His room at the Royal Academy Summer show this year was a triumph.

25.  David Crawforth & Naomi Siderfin: founders, Directors, Curators, and artists at Beaconsfield, a gallery with a vision to ‘provide a critical space for creative enquiry’, that occupies ‘a niche between the institution, the commercial and the ‘alternative’’.

26. Angela de la Cruz: 2010 Turner Prize nominee, renowned for her use of paintings as an ‘object’, exhibiting this year at the Lisson Gallery, London.

27. Penelope Curtis: Director of Tate Britain with a scholarly background in British art, especially 20th-century sculpture, she was also the first exhibitions curator at Tate Liverpool when it opened in 1988.

28. Alan Davey: Chief Executive of the Arts Council, has worked in the Department of National Heritage, and as head of the Arts Division and Director of Arts and Culture in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

29. Melissa Denes: The Guardian’s arts editor, she also writes for the New Statesman.

30. *Chris Dercon: new Director of Tate Modern with an enthusiasm for ‘mixing it up’, formerly the director of the Haus der Kunst, Munich.

31. *Anthony d’Offay: British art collector, opened the Anthony d’offay Gallery (1980-2002), his collection generously donated to the Tate/NGS is now touring the UK under the title Artist’s Rooms.

32. Emily Druiff: Director of Peckham Space, one of London’s newest purpose-built public galleries, dedicated to commissioning artworks made in partnership with community groups.

33. Liz Forgan: Chair of Arts Council England, began her career in journalism, before becoming Director of Programming for Channel 4. Also a trustee of the British Museum and Chair of the Scott Trust, she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire for services to broadcasting and heritage in 2006.

34. Yang Fudong: Chinese video artist, and one of the most important artists to emerge from contemporary China, whose work premiered at the Documenta XI in 2002 with the film Estranged Paradise, currently exhibiting at the Parasol Unit .

35. Jason Gaiger: Head of the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, also a Fellow of St. Edmund Hall Oxford, previously worked as Director of Research of Art History in the Open University, and Recently published ‘Aesthetics and Painting’.

36. Ryan Gander: London-based artist, creator of the Locked Room Scenario in Shoreditch, awarded the 2010 Zurich Art prize, accompanied by an exhibition at the Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, and winner of the 2003 Prix de Rome.

37. Nan Goldin: American photographer whose art career started documenting the post-punk new-wave scene in New York and courted controversy for her depiction of the use of heroin in her photographs, she received the 2007 Hasselblad Award.

38. Andy Goldsworthy: sculptor, photographer and environmentalist, currently the A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University, Awarded an OBE in 2000 and an honorary degree from Bradford University in 1993.

39. Andrew Graham-Dixon: British Art Historian, art critic and broadcaster, previously the chief art critic at the Independent and currently working for The Sunday Telegraph, he contributes regularly to BBC 2’s The Culture Show.

40. Simon Groom: Director of the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art, previously worked at Tate Liverpool and Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, he is interested in Asian art, curating shows such as The Real Thing: Contemporary Art from China. He has also lectured in English Literature in Italy and Japan.

41. Zaha Hadid: architect responsible for the 2012 London Olympics Aquatics Centre, and has won the RIBA Stirling Prize twice, winning this year for the Evelyn Grace Academy, Brixton.

42.  Achim Borchardt Hume: Chief Curator at the Whitechapel Gallery (2009-), currently preparing for the London Open exhibition to complement the 2012 Olympics. Previously the Curator of modern and contemporary art at Tate Modern.

43. Anselm Kiefer: German sculptor and artist, awarded the Berliner Bar (B.Z. Kulturpreis) in 2011, and awarded the Wolf Prize in 1990 for painting.

44. Reyahn King: Director of Art Galleries at National Museums Liverpool, specialising in 18th and 19th century British fine art, and has previously held guest positions at the National Portrait Gallery.

45. Joseph Kosuth:  American ‘father of conceptual art’, artist and curator, awarded the Laurea Honoris Causa doctorate in Philosophy and Letters from the University of Bologna in 2001, and in 2003, was awarded Austria’s highest cultural accolade, the Decoration of Honour in Gold.

46. Thomas Krens: former Director of the Guggenheim Foundation, New York, currently Senior Advisor for International Affairs, overseeing the completion of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

47. Michael Landy: YBA most famous for the work Break Down (2001), elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 2008, his most recent work was 2010’s Art Bin at the South London Gallery.

48. Lisa Le Feuvre: editor of the forthcoming Whitechapel Art Gallery and MIT Press Publication Failure, curated the 2010 British Art Show, and is a Lecturer in Curating at Goldsmiths University, London.

49. John Leighton: Director General of National Galleries of Scotland, taught Art History at Edinburgh University before moving into curating at the National Gallery, acquired the Artist’s Rooms collection for National Galleries of Scotland, and was awarded an honorary degree for services to the arts from Edinburgh University in 2009.

50. *James Lingwood: Co-Director of Artangel since 1991, responsible for building  Artangel into a significant international commissioning and producing organisation.

51. *Jenni Lomax: Director of Camden Arts Centre, led the major refurbishment of the centre that was completed in 2004.

52. Edward Lucie-Smith: British art critic and writer, organiser of The Group, a London-based poets group, his last published work was 2007’s Censoring the Body.

53. Christine Macel: Chief Curator of the Musee National d’art Moderne- Centre Pompidou, currently developing the exhibition ‘Dance your life’ which will open in November 2011, she also writes for FlashArt and Artforum.

54. *Christian Marclay: Swiss-American visual artist and composer, most recently exhibited at the 2011 Venice Biennale where he won the Golden Lion for his piece The Clock.

55. Rebecca May-Marston: Director of Hoxton’s Limoncello gallery, and One of the Independent’s 10 gallery owners who ‘are changing – and challenging – the British art scene’.

56. Paul McCarthy: ground-breaking Los Angeles-based performance artist with an upcoming show at Hauser &Wirth in November.

57. Nathaniel Mellors: British installation artist known for works such as Thinking Rock Speaks, the co-founder of Junior Asprin Records, a not-for-profit record label that produces music by artists in limited release. He also contributed a short film to BBC documentary The Seven Ages of Britain.

58. Michael Morris: Co-Director of Artangel since 1991, responsible for building Artangel into a significant international commissioning and producing organisation.

59. Sarah Morris: British-American artist who has exhibited widely with shows at Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Museum d’arte Moderna, Bologna, and has recently released a new art film Chicago (2011).

60. Simon Morrissey: independent curator and writer on contemporary art, who regularly talks publicly about contemporary art and curating, as well as frequently acting as a visiting tutor on a number of leading Fine Art courses at UK universities.

61. *Gregor Muir: Executive Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and the man responsible for turning around the fortunes of the ICA in 2011. He is also the author of Lucky Kunst: The Rise and Fall of Young British Art in 2010.

62. Robert Mull: Conjoint Dean for London Metropolitan University Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Design (FASD), and Sir John Cass School of Art, Media and Design (JCSAMD). He was also a key member of the avant-garde architect collective NATO.

63. Takashi Murakami: contemporary Japanese artist, founder and President of Kaikai Kiki Co. Ltd, managing the careers of several young artists, he also organises the biannual art fair GEISAI.

64. *Andrew Nairne: Director of Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, Chair of the Visual Arts and Galleries Association (VAGA), and former Director of  Modern Art Oxford.

65. *Hans Ulrich Obrist: Serpentine Gallery’s Co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects, and author of The Interview Project.

66. *Kirsty Ogg: curator at the Whitechapel Gallery and of the London Open, and Lecturer in Curating at Goldsmiths, University of London.

67. Cornelia Parker: sculptor and installation artist, shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1997, her most recent work saw her creating a life size mermaid in bronze for the Folkstone Triennial.

68. Grayson Perry: artist known for his work in ceramics, and awarded the Turner Prize in 2003, has just opened his self-curated show The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman at the British Museum, and will be the subject of an Imagine documentary in November 2011.

69. Michael Petry: Director of MOCA London, co-founder of the Museum of Installation, London, and appointed the first artist in residence at the Sir John Soane’s Museum in 2010.

70. Julia Peyton-Jones: Co-Director of the Serpentine Gallery, previously a curator at the Hayward Gallery, she was awarded an OBE in 2003.

71. *Susan Philipsz: Scottish artist, nominated for the Becks Futures Award in 2003, won the Turner Prize in 2010, and commissioned to create a sound installation in 2011 by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

72. Victoria Pomery: Director of Turner Contemporary since 2002, previously the Senior Curator at Tate Liverpool, has worked at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Australia, and was part of the selection panel for the 2007 Ebbsfleet Landmark Project.

73. Alex Poots: Director of the Manchester International Festival, former Director of contemporary arts at the English National Opera, has worked with the Barbican and Tate Modern, and took up the post as Director of MIF in 2007.

74. Richard Prince: American painter and photographer, and creator of the iconic Untitled (Cowboy), a ‘rephotograph’ of a photograph appropriated from a cigarette advertisement.

75. Pavel S. Pys: emerging curator and writer, winner of the first Zabludowicz Collection Curatorial Open in 2011.

76. Jamie Reid: British graphic designer, artist and anarchist, best known for his album cover designs for the Sex Pistols.

77. Simon Reuben White & Laura May Lewis: Artistic Directors of Hackney WickED festival, promoting the work of international and local artists through local galleries in Hackney Wick, an area with one of the highest concentrations of artists in the world.

78. *Gerhard Richter: one of the most important artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, currently with a major retrospective exhibition at the Tate Modern (Panorama), whose career started as part of the Capitalist Realists collective.

79. Ralph Rugoff: Director of the Hayward Gallery, previously Director of the Wattis Institute, best known for his curated work Just Pathetic (1990).

80. Adrian Searle: Guardian art critic since 1996, began his career at Artscribe in 1977 after training as a painter, part of the Turner Prize judging panel in 2004, as well as curating exhibitions internationally, he is currently a visiting professor at the Royal College of Art.

81. *Nicholas Serota: Director of the Tate (1988-present) and the driving force behind the opening of the Tate Modern. Has participated on the board of The Architecture Foundation and chaired the Turner Prize jury.

82. Amanda Sharp & Matthew Slotover: Directors of the Frieze Art Fair and publishers of frieze magazine.

83. Graham Sheffield: Director Arts of the British Council from May 2011. Previously worked as the Artistic Director of the Barbican (1995-2010) and the Chief Executive of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in Hong Kong. His early career included roles as a Music Director at the South Bank Centre. Awarded CBE in 2010 for services to the Arts.

84. David Shrigley: British Artist known for his work in humorous cartoon style, contributes a weekly cartoon to the Guardian’s weekend paper, and has exhibited internationally including solo shows in New York, Gateshead, Barcelona and Mainz.

85. Moira Sinclair: Executive Director of Arts Council England from 2005, previously the Director of Vital Arts, and was elected as a Clore Leadership Fellow in 2004/5 as an individual with the potential to become a future cultural leader.

86. Bob and Roberta Smith: contemporary British artist operating under pseudonym, famous for painting slogan-bearing signage in support of various activist campaigns.

87. Donald Smith: CHELSEA Space Director, with the ambition to create ‘a research development centre for invited art and design professionals, providing a gallery space, library research facilities, and a platform to develop personal projects that may otherwise remain unrealised’.

88.  *Polly Staple: Director of London’s Chisenhale Gallery, contributing editor to Frieze, on jury panel for Max Mara Art Prize for Women  2009- 2011, and one of the Guardian’s 2010 ‘women to watch’.

89. Paul Warwick Thompson: Rector of the Royal College of Art, served as Director of the Smithsonian’s National Design Museum in New York until 2009, trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a Member of the Wellcome Collection Advisory Committee at the Wellcome Trust.

90. *Wolfgang Tillmans: the first photographer to be awarded the Turner Prize in 2000, published Wolfgang Tillmans: Abstract Pictures this year, and currently exhibiting solo shows in Paris, Warsaw and New York.

91. Rob Tufnell: freelance curator, writer, and consultant to the Scottish Arts Council, who established the Rob Tufnell gallery in London, and was previously the Exhibition Organiser at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge.

92. John Tusa: British arts administrator, currently the Chairman of the University of the Arts London, presented BBC 2’s Newsnight from 1980-1986, from 1995-2007 was managing director of the Barbican Arts Centre, London, and is Honorary Chairman of theartsdesk.com.

93. Christoph Martin Vogther: Director of the Wallace Collection from October 2011, previously the Curator of pre-1800 pictures at the Wallace Collection.

94. Mark Wallinger: sculptor and installation artist, double Turner Prize nominee, won the Prize in 2007 for the work State Britain. Notable work includes the sculpture on the Fourth Plinth of Trafalgar Square Ecce Homo (1999).

95. *Ai Weiwei: Chinese contemporary artist and political activist, awarded Das Glas der Vernuft Kassel citizen award in 2010, and serving as an Artistic consultant for the 2008 Olympics Bejing National Stadium.

96. Guy Wildenstein: Disgraced art dealer and Managing Director of Wildenstein & Company Gallery, Paris/ New York, whose past exhibitions include A Tribute to Claude Monet (2007) and The Arts of France (2006) Guy is on the list for setting an example by getting caught.

97. Matt Williams: new curator of exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and co-editor of the annual publication Novel, which focuses on artists’ writing and poetry.

98. *Godfrey Worsdale: Director of the BALTIC centre for contemporary art, Gateshead, responsible for hosting the Turner Prize 2011, Vice Chairman of the UK’s Visual Art and Galleries Association, and selector for the 2011 Threadneedle Prize for Painting and Sculpture.

99. *Anita Zabludowicz: founded the Zabludowicz Collection in 2007, a space for exhibitions, commissions and residencies, as well as establishing the Zabludowicz Collection ‘Curatorial Open’ and ‘Testing Ground’ programmes to promote contemporary art education. She is also a key sponsor of the upcoming Sunday Art Fair.

100. Dasha Zhukova: Editor of the long-awaited Garage Magazine, Creative Director of the fashion label Kova & T, and former Editor in Chief of Pop magazine (2008-2010). Founder of IRIS, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes contemporary culture, and trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

[*PowerLyst Top 20]

 

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