Frieze Week - Friday: ArtReview Power 100 launch party

On Friday of Frieze Week was the ArtReview Power 100 launch party sponsored by Ruinard. I had the chance to attend it and had a good time: excellent champagne, nice crowd (of mainly Londoners), beautiful music !

"The ArtReview Power 100 is not just a who’s who to contemporary art but also a guide to general trends and forces that shape the artworld". This year's winner is Hans Ulrich Obrist, my friend and co-Director of exhibitions at London's Serpentine Gallery, who I had the chance to interview about Il Tempo del Postino (check the archives). I am really happy for him, congratulations !

Before you buy the magazine for the full list, here is the top ten:

1. Hans Ulrich Obrist

2. Glenn D. Lowry

3. Sir Nicholas Serota

4. Daniel Birnbaum

5. Larry Gagosian

6. François Pinault

7. Eli Broad

8. Anton Vidokle, Julieta Aranda & Brian Kuan Wood

9. Iwona Blazwick

10. Bruce Nauman

The Serpentine Gallery, thanks to its co-Director, is one the most influencial institutions and the Poetry Marathon which took place this weekend proved it once more. It was held in the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009, designed by architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the acclaimed Japanese practice SANAA, and welcomed performances by Gilbert and Georges, Tracey Emin, Vito Acconci or Brian Eno. Superb !

More info on: http://www.artreview100.com/ and http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2009/06/poetry_marathonsaturday_and_su.html

Who's got the power ? The Power 100's list by ArtReview

Extracts by Georgina Adams :


"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 to India to influence in New York ? How do you evaluate money in a market where pricing transparency is non existent 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 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.
...


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 juxatpositions of the academic, the commercial and the creative."

But who is the first ? who is the first ?

Guess ?

1. Francois Pinault

2. Larry Gagosian

3. Sir Nicholas Serota

4. Glenn D. Lowry

5. Eli Broad

6. Damien Hirst

7. Charles Saatchi

8. Jay Jopling

9. Steven A. Cohen

10. David Zwirner

To learn more :

www.uploadlibrary.com/artreviewdigital/index.html