TIME magazine has just published it’s annual T100 list, offering its picks for the year’s 100 most influential people. Among the chosen this year are several names that will be very familiar to art lovers: JR, Kehinde Wiley, and Judy Chicago. Other creative types who made the cut include architect Elizabeth Diller and designer Virgil Abloh.
According to the magazine, the T100 list is “a designation of individuals whose time, in our estimation, is now.” The TIME 100 isn’t a measure of power. Rather it asks the question, “was this their year?”
Former U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and artist Kehinde Wiley unveil his portrait during a ceremony at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, on February 12, 2018 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.
Wiley, who broke all conventions of political portraiture with his innovative depiction of Barack Obama, is lauded in an essay by rapper LL Cool J for “going against the grain of what the world is accustomed to” and “transforming the way African Americans are seen.”
In an essay by Laurene Powell Jobs, French street artist JR was praised for “dedicating his career to bridging gaps—physical, cultural, spiritual—among people of all backgrounds” via his monumental photo-based murals.
JR with his work, shown by Jeffrey Deitch, at the Armory Show. Photo courtesy of Sarah Cascone.
Writing about feminist painter Judy Chicago, Jill Soloway applauded the artist for inventing “a female gaze in art,” called her “our modern day Frida,” and added that “she deserves every ounce of this brand-new but totally necessary showing of attention.” (Soloway had at one time been planning to make the story of “Womanhouse,” a 1972 art show that Chicago organized with Miriam Schapiro, into a TV series.)
When it comes to Virgil Abloh, it is Japanese artist Takashi Murakami’s turn to write praise, describing the designer’s “nobility of character” and saying “with his appointment for Louis Vuitton’s menswear, his full merit will be understood even more widely across the globe.”
Judy Chicago with her new book, her gallerist, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, and one of her new plates from the Prospect NY. Photo courtesy of BFA.
Architect Elizabeth Diller gets a salute from billionaire art collector Eli Broad, whose museum she designed. He touts her as “a visionary… [who] can turn a metaphor into brick and mortar” adding that she “sees opportunities where others see challenges. She can do the impossible.”
Amid a global shift towards authoritarianism, world leaders featured most prominently on the list. Alongside the artists and creatives, politicians including Donald Trump, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and Emmanuel Macron were all deemed influential in shaping the global geopolitical landscape by the magazine.
Elsewhere, pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna and athletes Roger Federer, Kevin Durant, and Chloe Kim were also featured in their respective fields.