Art Review's 2016 POWER 100: the who's who of the art world: Hans-Ulrich Obrist tops the list

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This year marks the 15th anniversary of Art Review’s POWER 100 — the highly-anticipated annual list determining the who’s who of the art world every November.


This year 40 gallery owners and directors, 28 artists, 29 museum, institution and art organization directors, 12 collectors and philanthropists and 17 curators and writers make up the list. With a third of the POWER 100 made up of commercial galleries and their owners, it is clear that powerhouses such as Hauser & Wirth, (3) David Zwirner, (4) Gagosian, (6) Marian Goodman (13) and Sprüth & Magers (14)  are still running the art world.

Whilst the majority of the entries — notably the top 30 — are systematically reshuffled up and down the list every year, the 2016 ranking does offer some surprises.

Superstar curator Hans-Ulrich Obrist tops the list for the second time since 2009, his global reach, ubiquity — fuelled, in part, by his very active social media presence — and the variety and scope of his ongoing projects earnt him the coveted first position.

Despite women accounting for only around a third of the 126 names in the POWER 100 — attesting to the art world’s continuing gender imbalance — the highest-ranking artist this year is German artist, filmmaker, professor and prolific writer Hito Steyerl, (number 7, up 11 places compared to last year) who left her mark virtually everywhere this year. From the immersive video installation Factory of the Sun, which closed at MOCA Los Angeles in September after a seven month-long run, to the works presented at the Berlin, São Paulo and Gwangju biennials, to her collaboration with Grant Olney Passmore at Rhizome’s Seven on Seven, Steyerl continues to explore the whole spectrum of our digitized contemporary culture.

Steyerl fares better than fellow artist Marina Abramović, who, busier than ever between her hectic schedule, her legal dispute with Ulay and her infamous revelations about past abortions, drops to position 46, dropping 38 positions compared to last year.

Alongside Steyerl, two other artists make the top 10: Wolfgang Tillmans (9, +2) and Ai Weiwei, (10, -8). With the former making vocal comments about Brexit and the latter capitalizing on his activist/celebrity status, Tillmans and Weiwei go to show that making it in the POWER 100 remains a question of influence — both artistic and political — more than money: Jeff Koons, one of the world’s highest-grossing artists (14, 2015) continues to deliver at auctions, bus has dropped 16 positions compared to last year.

Notable eliminations include Cindy Sherman, (41, 2015) Ryan Trecartin, (32, 2015) and Stefan Simchowitz (95, 2015).

Attesting to the everlasting prestige of the Venice Biennale, Christine Macel, director of the 57th edition, debuts in the list at number 17 — similarly, Okwui Enwezor, number 20, curator of the 2015 Biennale, made it in the POWER 100 at number 24 in 2014, despite not appearing in 2013.

Notable figures among the 12 philanthropists and art collectors that make the list include the Frenchman François Pinault, who recently chose La Bourse de Commerce as the Parisian home of part of his collection and Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, who together with husband Gustavo A. Cisneros, recently gifted MoMA with an impressive 102 works by Latin American artists.

Despite mixed reports of sales at Frieze London, the fair’s co-founders Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp, as well as director Victoria Siddall, make the list as a trio at number 66.

The full list is available via Art Review’s website.