Autumn in London is a time when the art community as a whole anticipates the release of ArtReview’s Power 100. This list has always promised to represent the movers and shakers in the art world. It is considered to be ‘a comprehensive listing of the art-world’s most powerful figures’. Many think that this list is misguided and tired. Their criteria has always represented ‘sheer financial clout’ as it is dominated by commercial gallery owners, big-buck artists, and corrupt auctioneers.
The ArtLyst editorial staff believe that achievement should not be compromised for the sake of the dollar, so we have created our own alternative list, instead of a Machiavellian Power List that has more in common with the Times ‘Rich List’. This year 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 Jay Joplings, the Jeff Koons and the Amy Cappellazzos. In come the organisers of the Cultural Olympiad, the Director of Artangel, and the heads of art colleges across the country. Yes: All rise as the ArtLyst Power 100 Alternative Power List is published again.
PowerLyst 100 Top 20
1. Pussy Riot: Russian guerilla art movement, three members were imprisoned this year based on their involvement in an “anti-Putin” ‘art performance’ piece.
2. Michael Stanley: Acclaimed gallery director, Modern Art Oxford, Turner Prize Judge 2012 until his untimely death last month.
3. Yayoi Kusama: Japanese artist who had a major retrospective of her work at Tate Modern last spring and still lives in a psychiatric hospital.
4. Tino Seghal: British-German artist of partly Indian origin, based in Berlin. Currently exhibiting at Tate Modern for the 2012 Unilever series commission.
5. Jeremy Deller : English conceptual, video and installation artist. Winner of the Turner Prize in 2004.
6. Ai Weiwei: Chinese dissident contemporary artist, Unilever series commission Tate Modern 2009, Founder of Fake Cultural Development Ltd. Co-Designer of Beijing’s Birds Nest Stadium.
7. James Lingwood: Co-Director of Artangel since 1991, responsible for several Turner Prize nominated projects.
8. Duchess Of Cambridge: Catherine Cambridge has a degree in History of Art and is patron of the National Portrait Gallery. Don’t underestimate her value as an ambassador for UK visual art in the coming years.
9. Sally Tallant: Director of the Liverpool Biennial.
10. Elmgreen & Dragset: Conceptual sculptors, winners of the current Fourth Plinth commission.
11. Damian Ortega: Mexican artist living and working Berlin, has shown at the White Cube, Mason’s Yard and had a major installation at the Barbican in 2012.
12. Yoko Ono: Japanese painter, and performance based artist, with a major show at Serpentine Gallery last summer.
13. Ruth Mackenzie Tireless Director of Cultural Olympiad which featured artists such as Martin Creed, alongside David Hockney and Damien Hirst.
14. James Franco: American artist, actor, and writer who balances his work as an artist with a mainstream acting career.
15. David Chipperfield: British architect creating designs based on his philosophy of architecture.Designed the Turner Contemporary in Margate and the Hepworth in Wakefield.
16. Marc Quinn: Original YBA who recreated a sculpture of Alison Lapper for the 2012 Paralympics in London.
17. Chris Dercon: Newish Director of Tate Modern with an enthusiasm for ‘mixing it up’, formerly the director of the Haus der Kunst, Munich.
18. Dasha Zhukova: Editor of Garage Magazine. Founder of IRIS, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes contemporary culture and the Garage Moscow’s most important contemporary art gallery.
19. Anita and Poju 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.
20. Hans Ulrich Obrist: Serpentine Gallery’s Co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects, and author of The Interview Project.
Artlyst Power 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. Peter Blake: English pop artist,who celebrated his 80th in 2012
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.Erica Bolton: PR catalyst and organisational magician. Partner at Bolton & Quinn Ltd.
15. Martin Boyce: Scottish sculptor and winner of 2011 Turner Prize.
16. AA Bronson: one third of the legendary artist collective General Idea (1969-1994) with Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal.17. 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.
18. 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.
19. John Cassy: Director of Sky Arts, a cluster of channels dedicated to highbrow arts, including fine art, theatre, film and music.
20. 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.
21. *David Chipperfield: Modernist architect, with two buildings shortlisted for the 2007 RIBA Stirling Prize, and winning with the Museum of Modern Literature, Marbach.
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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’’.
27.*Duchess Of Cambridge: Catherine Cambridge has a degree in History of Art and is patron of the National Portrait Gallery. Don’t underestimate her value as an ambassador for UK visual art in the coming years.
28. 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. She is also a judge of the Turner prize 2012.
29. 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.
30.*Jeremy Deller : English conceptual, video and installation artist. Winner of the Turner Prize in 2004.
31. Melissa Denes: The Guardian’s arts editor, she also writes for the New Statesman.
32. *Chris Dercon: new Director of Tate Modern with an enthusiasm for ‘mixing it up’, formerly the director of the Haus der Kunst, Munich.
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. *Elmgreen & Dragset: Winner of the fourth Plynth commission.
36. Shepard Fairey: American contemporary graphic designer best known for his work used in the President Obama campaign posters.
37. *James Franco: American artist, actor, and writer who balances his work as an artist with a mainstream acting career.
38. Ann Freedman: Former director of the Knoedler gallery in New York, who discovered ‘one of the greatest troves of unknown Abstract Expressionist works’. Unfortunately they weren’t quite right.
39. 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.
40. 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’.
41. 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.
42. 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.
43. 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.
44. Andreas Gursky: German visual artist who is known for his large scale architecture and landscape photographs.
45. 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.
46. Thomas Heatherwick: English designer known for his innovative use of materials, also designed the London 2012 Olympic cauldron.
47. James Hughes-Hallett: Chairman of the Courtauld Institute of Art.
48. 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.
49. Andrew Hunt: Of Focal Point Gallery and Turner Prize Judge 2012.
50. *Yayoi Kusama: Japanese artist who had a major lifetime culmination of her work shown at Tate Modern.
51. Thomas Krens: former Director of the Guggenheim Foundation, New York, currently Senior Advisor for International Affairs, overseeing the completion of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
52. 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.
53. Joseph La Placa: CEO All Visual Arts curator of Metamorphosis and Vanitas.
54. 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.
55. *James Lingwood: Co-Director of Artangel since 1991, responsible for building Artangel into a significant international commissioning and producing organisation.
56. Jenni Lomax: Director of Camden Arts Centre, led the major refurbishment of the centre that was completed in 2004.
57. 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 a current show at Hauser & Wirth Zurich until 20 October.
57. *Ruth Mackenzie Tireless Director of Cultural Olympiad which featured artists such as Martin Creed, alongside David Hockney and Damien Hirst.
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 in London.
62. Heike Munder: Curator at Migros Museum in Zurich, also a Turner Prize judge 2012.
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. Elizabeth Neilson: Director 176 Zabludowicz Collection
66. *Hans Ulrich Obrist: Serpentine Gallery’s Co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects, and author of The Interview Project.
67. Chris Ofili: English artist, and winner of the Turner Prize. Also holds the position as Trustee at the Parasol Unit Foundation of Contemporary Art.
68. Kirsty Ogg: curator at the Whitechapel Gallery and of the London Open, and Lecturer in Curating at Goldsmiths, University of London.
69. *Yoko Ono: Japanese painter, and performance based, with a major show at Serpetine Gallery.
70. *Damian Ortega: Mexican artist living and working Berlin, has shown at the White Cube, Mason’s Yard and will have a major installation at the Barbican in 2012.
71 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.
72. Julia Peyton-Jones: Co-Director of the Serpentine Gallery, previously a curator at the Hayward Gallery, she was awarded an OBE in 2003.
73. Nicholas Penny, FSA a British art historian. Since Spring 2008 he has been director of the National Gallery in London.
74. 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.
75. Sandra Penketh Director of Art Galleries National Museums Liverpool
76. *Pussy Riot: Russian guerilla art movement, three members were imprisoned this year based on their involvement in an “anti-Putin” ‘art performance’ piece.
77. *Marc Quinn: member of the YBA who created sculptures for the 2012 Paralympics in London.
78. Gerhard Richter: German visual artist who specializes in abstract photorealism.
79. David Roberts: Prolific art collector in the UK, in 2008 started the ‘David Roberts Art Foundation’ to help emerging artists and young curators.
80. Ralph Rugoff: Director of the Hayward Gallery, previously Director of the Wattis Institute, best known for his curated work Just Pathetic (1990).
81. Jenny Saville: Contemporary British painter, best known for her involvement as a YBA and her large scale paintings of women.
82. 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.
83. *Tino Seghal: British-German artist of partly Indian origin, based in Berlin. Currently exhibiting at Tate Modern for the 2012 Unilever series commission.
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. Taryn Simon: American art photographer, with a major feature show at the Tate Modern in 2011.
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. *Michael Stanley: Acclaimed gallery director, Modern Art Oxford, Turner Prize Judge 2012 until his untimely death last month.
89. 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’.
90. John Stezaker: Conceptual British artist, awarded the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2012.
91. 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.
92. *Sally Tallant Director of the Liverpool Biennial
93. 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.
94. Christoph Martin Vogther: Director of the Wallace Collection from October 2011, previously the Curator of pre-1800 pictures at the Wallace Collection.
95. 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).
96. *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.
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 and Poju 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.