Power 100
Introduction
by Georgina Adam
Chair, ArtReview Power 100 Selection Committee 2007
Everyone loves lists, and lists that combine power, money and art are simply irresistible. The ArtReview
Power 100 has established itself as the anxiously awaited, obsessively examined signpost to who’s in,
who’s out, who’s hot and who’s not in the contemporary art world today.
Selecting the top 100 movers and shakers in this shifting landscape is inevitably fraught with
difficulties. Who wields more power: a top art dealer with a network of galleries or the director of a
major museum? How do you compare influence in India to influence in New York? How do you evaluate
money in a market where pricing transparency is nonexistent and deals are sealed on a handshake in a
back room? Does the (purported) sale of a £50 million diamond-encrusted skull make its creator more
important – or just a lot richer?
The panel which pondered these questions consists of journalists from around the world.
Interestingly, their opinions varied wildly: some names were allocated positions from seven to 70. Asked
to suggest new names, they came up with a bewildering array, with hardly any overlaps.
The truth is that the world of contemporary art, which was once an esoteric microcosm, has expanded
enormously. It has expanded both through the number of people engaged in it and geographically. The
artworld has gone global, with the appearance of players from countries that previously were hardly
visible on the artistic radar. Indian and Russian buyers are having an enormous impact on the art market.
In the Middle East and China plans are afoot for swathes of new museums: five alone in Abu Dhabi,
and plenty more (though probably not the reported thousands) in China. While many players from
these countries are not yet in the top 100, they are moving up fast, and we have listed some of those
you can expect to hear more about in separate boxes alongside the main listings.
In the established artworld, New York is hugely important because of the market there, the financial
infrastructure and the magnitude of its institutions. But now Los Angeles is increasingly where the talent
is, with the infrastructure beginning to catch up. Contemporary art is the West Coast’s great strength –
and institutions such as the Hammer are beginning to really funnel the energy of their artists. In Europe,
London is an increasing force, both financially – thanks to Frieze and near-tax-haven status among
the world’s superwealthy – and creatively. Even France, once quite hostile to new art, now boasts our
number one entry, François Pinault.
We are already hearing about the growing number of collectors who are opening their own gallery
spaces. Charles Saatchi started the trend in 1985, and since then dozens of other collectors have followed
suit, from French billionaires (Pinault has not one but two museums in Venice) to Mexican industrialists
(Eugenio López’s Colección Jumex in the Mexico City suburbs).
Art dealing is on a roll, and with the amazing increase in the prices for the most sought-after art,
dealers and auction-house specialists have become stars in this world, sometimes eclipsing the artists
they sell. And the buildings that house the art icons of our time – the Hirsts, the Serras, the Warhols
– are designed by today’s ‘starchitects’, a few of whom also figure on our list.
This whole world of curators, critics, architects, dealers, advisors and collectors owe their positions,
their influence and indeed their livelihoods to the artists who create the art. But could the artists be
successful without the curators, critics and dealers who nurture and promote their careers? The Power
100 reflects this interdependence, with its strange juxtapositions of the academic, the commercial and
the creative.
Panel:
Karel Ankerman, Axel Lapp, Joshua Mack, Holly Myers, Jonathan T.D. Neil
Many thanks also to the numerous unnamed sources who contributed
suggestions, comments and advice during the compilation of this list
Artreview 98
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