The German art magazine Monopol has released its annual list of the 100 people it judges to be most important in the contemporary art world. As one of the first of such rankings to be published this year, the magazine’s selection offers an early indication of who managed to stand out in a year jam-packed with successes and controversies.

Assisted by an advisory board of experts, the magazine tossed out objective measures like auction sales in favor of evaluating “influence and visibility.” The list fluctuates greatly from year to year; Only Marc Spiegler (10), whose next move is being closely watched after he recently stepped down as global director of Art Basel, and the Indonesian curatorial collective Ruangrupa (2) made Monopol‘s top 10 in both 2021 and 2022.

“It goes without saying that a magazine from Accra or New Delhi would set different priorities,” the magazine’s editorial team prefaced. “We see this list primarily as a contribution to the debate and as a homage to all the people who live art every day and make it tangible.”

So, who made the cut this year? 

Ranking first is Nan Goldin, a reliable favorite among art power lists across publications over the past few years thanks to her powerful activism against the art world’s embrace of funding from the Sackler family, art patrons who amassed much of their wealth through the sale of the highly addictive opioid painkiller Oxycontin.