Art Power Lists
Rosie Razzall, Tuesday, 14th October 2008
After the unprecedented success of his groundbreaking £111m sale at Sotheby’s, London – which would have stolen headlines even without the current financial context – how could Damien Hirst fail to rank as anything but no.1 in ArtReview’s annual list, published tomorrow, of the art world’s ‘Power 100’?
There’s also an air of inevitability that Science – the company responsible for the team of studio assistants that produce, market and publicise the works that have turned Hirst into a superbrand – is the only corporate institution on the list this year. UBS and Deutsche Bank, key art sponsors who ranked 62 and 63 respectively in 2007, have this year fallen off the list (what this might mean for banks that collect art is explored by Ben Wright in his November issue column). ArtReview notes that 2008’s list signifies a rise for veterans such as Lucian Freud (66) and Jasper Johns (9), as the art world seeks security in established, rather than new and financially risky, artists. Big names such as Larry Gagosian, Sir Nicholas Serota, Francois Pinault, Jay Jopling and Charles Saatchi (above) remain on the list as ever but with various changes in rank numbering.
As was the case last year, the 2008 list sees new appearances for a range of artists and collectors. Street artist Bansky enters at no. 63, testament to the popular reputation he has achieved. Despite the cynicism that sometimes surrounds Russian collector Roman Abramovich and his girlfriend Dasha Zhukova, the pair rank at no. 54. The Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, is the only Middle-Eastern patron on the list (30), indicating a rise of high-profile collecting in the wealthy Emirates as the Guggenheim announced its decision this month to open a new museum in Dubai. However, new entrants could see their arrival short-lived: the internet search engine Google, which made a surprise entrance to the list at no. 100 in 2006, has not appeared since.
But what exactly do these rankings actually mean? It’s hard to see, for example, how the list will have any impact on personalities such as Serota or Gagosian. Instead, the ‘Power 100’ list is based on subjective measures of influence, creativity, activity, finance and public perception over the last year, which rather makes the interest of a list like this more about who has put it together than who it features. As a point of comparison, readers of Apollo can look forward to Apollo’s December Awards issue, that announces our international personality of the year, museum opening of the year, and exhibition and book of the year – not to mention a round-up of the most important acquisitions across the globe. Selected in consultation with Apollo’s editorial advisory panel, it won’t be giving too much away to say that Damien Hirst is nowhere to be seen…
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