PRESS: In a Rebuke to Power Lists, Collecteurs Announces Substance 100 by Sam Gaskin

The list sought to raise the question, what is the purpose of art in the 21st century?

Nan Goldin, Die-in (2019). Staged inside Harvard’s Arthur M. Sackler Museum protesting the Sackler family’s ties to Purdue Pharma and the opioid crisis. Courtesy Justin Kaplan/WBUR.

Digital museum Collecteurs, which provides a platform for private collectors to share their artwork online, has announced its list of the top 100 artists and activists making global change.

‘Focused on the power of change, instead of power itself, Substance 100 ​​is neither exclusive nor concerned with rank,’ said Collecteurs in a statement. ‘It celebrates the world’s most conscientious individuals and collectives, who are not afraid to challenge pre-existing models and enact social, environmental and political change for a more positive reality.’

The list appears to be a clear rebuke to ArtReview‘s Power 100, which was topped in 2019 by Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, Director Glenn D. Lowry, followed by artists Nan Goldin, and gallerists Iwan and Manuela Wirth.

‘ArtReview has created a list full of powerful individuals in a format that everyone recognizes and understands in the art world,’ said Jessica and Evrim Oralkan, the founders of Collecteurs. ‘Using our own easy to understand format, our aim is to recognize individuals who find the power within themselves to challenge the status quo and bring social, environmental and political change.’

A significant portion of ArtReview‘s Power 100 are gallerists and museum directors, while the Substance 100 includes people from outside the art world, such as Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, ‘healthcare professionals globally’, and ‘everyone who stood up against Instagram censorship’. Nevertheless, there issome overlap between the two lists. The artists who appear on both are: Nan Goldin, Hito Steyerl, Decolonize This Place, Eyal Weizman, Theaster Gates, Kara Walker, Arthur Jafa, Koyo Kouoh, Kader Attia, and Trevor Paglen.

‘Collecteurs created Substance 100 with admiration for creative integrity, ingenuity, voice and perspective—all of which lend themselves to new ways of thinking and being,’ said Jessica​ and ​Evrim Oralkan​​. ‘Our goal is to prompt an open dialogue on some of the most pressing issues of our time.’

The full list of Substance 100 artists follows in alphabetical order below. —[O]

John Akomfrah

Antonia Alampi & Iliana Fokianaki

Halil Altindere

Art Against Displacement

Artists at Risk

Kader Attia

Ariella Aisha Azoulay

Hannah Black

Behrouz Boochani & Hoda Afshar

Border Angels

Cesar Cervantes

Nora Chipaumire

Tony Cokes

Mujeres Creando

Decolonize This Place

Jeremy Deller

T. J. Demos

Steven Donziger

The Hemispheric Institute

Everyone who stood up against IG censorship

Extinction Rebellion

Michelle Millar Fisher

Mark Flood

FLYGSKAM Movement

Claire Fontaine

Andrea Fraser

Aslan Gaisumov

Ja’Tovia Gary

Theaster Gates

Nan Goldin

Glenn Greenwald

Boris Groys

Lu Guang

Guerilla Girls

Shilpa Gupta

Hans Haacke

Healthcare professionals globally

Edgar Heap of Birds

Jenny Holzer

Ts’akë ze’ Howihkat (Freda Huson)

Arthur Jafa

Iordanis Kerenidis & Piergiorgio Pepe

Bouchra Khalili

Grada Kilomba

Christine Sun Kim

Koyo Kouoh

Donna Kukama

Simone Leigh

Glenn Ligon

Sharon Louden

Gastão de Magalhães

Jill Magid

Teresa Margolles

Massive Attack

Achille Mbembe

Chief Raoni Metuktire

Zanele Muholi

Beatriz Santiago Muñoz

Paulo Nazareth

New Museum Union

Otobong Nkanga

Cady Noland

Notara 26

Antonio Obá

Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez

Code of Acquisitions

Otolith Group

Trevor Paglen

Adrian Piper

William Pope.L

Pussy Riot

Walid Raad

Carola Rackete

Raqs Media Collective

Reporters Without Borders

Martha Rosler

Doris Salcedo

Savvy Contemporary

Max Schrems

Zineb Sedira

Franklin Sirmans

Slavs and Tatars

Soup du Jour

Hito Steyerl

Bela Tarr

Hank Willis Thomas

Greta Thunberg

Time-Based Currency Movement

The Intercept

Brad Troemel

Turner Prize 2019 Winners

Mierle Laderman Ukeles

University of the Underground

Kara Walker

McKenzie Wark

Joanna Warsza

Eyal Weizman

Working Class History

Xiuhtezcatl

Everyone