This year, we’ve watched records break at high-profile auctions and attendance grow at an abundance of international art fairs. At the same time, high art and pop culture keep intersecting and informing one another in curious ways, as evinced by fairs such as Art Basel in Miami Beach.
There’s no question that the art world is a powerful force in contemporary society, but who are the individuals with influence driving this well-oiled machine? From billionaire patrons to biennial curators, celebrity collectors to internationally celebrated artists, we made a list of the 100 most influential people in the art world today. (See Part One here.)
34. Hito Steyerl
The artist and theorist’s hybrid practice explores surveillance, militarization, and the circulation of images; it feels increasingly relevant in this post-internet moment. This year, she had solo exhibitions in New York and Berlin and showed new work at the Venice Biennale.
35. Ingvild Goetz
The Munich-based collector founded the private museum Sammlung-Goetz, which specializes in new media. It then comes as no surprise that Goetz owns one of the largest video collections in the world.
36. Isa Genzken
The German artist has a huge influence on younger artists, especially within Europe. For the last two years, her solo retrospective has been traveling internationally, and has included stops at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, and beyond.
37. Isabelle Graw
The art historian and critic is a professor at Staedelschule in Frankfurt. She co-founded the publication Texte Zur Kunst in Berlin, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year and continues to drive the evolution of art criticism and influence global conversations.
38. Iwan and Manuela Wirth
The major international gallerists and power couple added to their galleries in New York, London, Zurich, and Los Angeles last year, opening a large complex Hauser & Wirth Somerset in rural England which includes galleries and an educational center, proving their understanding that collectors want to be sold more than just objects. They also announced a partnership with former MOCA chief curator Paul Schimmel for their LA location, which cements their presence on the West Coast.
39. Jack Shainman
The New York gallerist has a niche for showing African and Asian artists and in recent years expanded with a massive upstate New York space. This spring, he showed a retrospective of Ghanian-born sculpture El Anatsui’s works shortly after the artist’s Venice Golden Lion win.
40. Jay Jopling
The English art dealer and founder of White Cube galleries has been instrumental in England’s repositioning as an art-world center. This year he added Theaster Gates to the gallery’s roster and married Paddle8 co-founder and fashion maven Hikari Yokoyama—who is also an art consultant for Gucci.
41. Jeff Koons
The American artist notorious for reproducing banal consumerist objects with shiny surfaces maintains the record for the most expensive artwork by any living artist for his Balloon Dog (1994). This year, he unveiled a new statue at Vienna’s Natural History Museum and his retrospective from last year at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York toured to Paris’s Pompidou and the Guggenheim Bilbao.
42. Jeffrey Deitch
The American art dealer returned to New York after three years as the MOCA director in Los Angeles, and recently reopened Deitch Projects in Soho. He is collaborating with uber-gallerist Larry Gagosian at Miami Basel this year, and already got the party started at DACRA on Monday evening.
43. Joseph Nahmad
The young gallerist comes from a family of billionaire collectors. At his first show, he exhibited Ray Nachum, an artist known for his celebrity collectors, as well as for his artwork on Rihanna’s latest album. We’ll see what he does next.
44. Juan A. Gaitán
The former curator of the Berlin Biennale began directing the Museo Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City, which currently hosts a show of artist Leon Golub‘s work.
45. Jussi Pylkkanen
The Christie’s auctioneer has been key to the house’s record-breaking successes in recent years, and this year was no different. He is a master of “the auctioneer’s pause,” as the Financial Times notes.
46. Kara Walker
This year the American artist known for her explorations of race, gender, and history made headlines with shows in London and Brooklyn and was appointed Tepper Chair at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts.
47. Kasper König
The Berlin-based curator has been named artistic director of the upcoming Skulptur Projekte in Münster in 2017. This follows his tenure as curator of Manifesta last year.
48. Kemal Has Cingillioglu
The influential London-based collector hails from one of Turkey’s wealthiest families and is a member of Christie’s European Advisory Board. He made headlines this Fall for flipping Warhol’s “Four Marilyns” (1962) only two years after he purchased it.
49. Larry Gagosian
With his empire of 13 galleries worldwide, the American art dealer has had another year of impressive museum-quality shows, and looks ahead at a collaboration with Jeffrey Deitch at Miami Beach in December.
50. Lauren Cornell
The co-curator of this year’s New Museum Triennial was later named the institution’s curator and associate director of technology initiatives. The former executive director of Rhizome has developed a reputation for finding emerging talent and specializing in new media.
51. Leonardo DiCaprio
The Hollywood actor is developing a reputation as one of the world’s most prolific art collectors, adding a Frank Stella to his hoard this year.
52. Leonid Mikhelson
The Russian art dealer has used some of his energy-industry fortune to found Victoria – the Art of Being Contemporary, which has lived up to its mission statement of promoting post-avant-garde Russian art at home and abroad over the past several years.
53. Lin Han
The emerging Chinese collector has made bold moves at auctions and recently opened M Woods, the first private museum in Beijing’s 789 Arts District.
54. Liu Yiqian
The Chinese billionaire and art collector broke records purchasing the most expensive work of art this year and the second-most expensive ever, a Modigliani nude. He founded the Long Museum, a private art museum which already has expanded to a second location in Shanghai.
55. Loic Gouzer
The Swiss auction-house executive was promoted to Deputy Chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie’s this year.
56. Marc and Arne Glimcher
The father-and-son pair behind Pace Galleries have locations in five cities internationally and a noteworthy presence in mainland China. They also have a mini museum-style gallery under-construction in Chelsea, scheduled to open in 2018.
57. Marian Goodman
The power-player American art dealer has galleries in London, Paris, and New York as well as a roster of high-profile artists. Exhibitions this year have included shows by Jeff Wall and Rineke Djikstra.
58. Marina Abramović
The renowned performance artist and celebrity figure has finally raised the funds for the Marina Abramović Institute. This year she also made headlines for feuds with Jay Z and her former collaborator and ex-lover German artist Ulay.
59. Massimiliano Gioni
Gioni is the director of the Milan-based Trussardi Foundation and the artistic director of the New Museum, where he helmed a survey of Chris Ofili this year.
60. Michael Govan
The director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, straddles art-world credibility and celebrity-fueled projects headlined by Leonardo DiCaprio, Kanye West, and Steve McQueen.
61. Miuccia Prada
The iconic Italian fashion designer and entrepreneur has been a long-time art collector. This year she opened a gallery with locations in Venice and Milan.
62. Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers
The international gallerists Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers have developed a reputation for ideological commitments and a roster of well-established artists, from Ryan Trecartin to Cindy Sherman. Next year, they will open a third location in Los Angeles after several years operating in London and Berlin.
63. Monique and Max Burger
The Hong Kong-based couple have amassed an impressive collection specializing in post-1980s works. Since last year, a column presented by the Burger collection is featured every month in ArtAsiaPacific.