Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev has topped ArtReview's eleventh annual 'Power 100' list. The curator of Documenta 13 is the first female number one and only the second curator (after Hans Ulrich Obrist in 2009) to top the list . Christov-Bakargiev was ranked number one on account of her influential and globally ambitious Documenta, the latest edition of the historic quinquennial exhibition based in Kassel, Germany, which this year extended to Kabul, Banff and Alexandria/Cairo. Christov-Bakargiev’s expansive curating and her engagement of ideas and practices from outside the sphere of contemporary art were seen to be particularly influential, prompting discussion across the artworld. The magazine notes ‘Documenta 13 allowed artists to speak for themselves through their work, and to make their own sets of rules'.

This year’s list, compiled by an international jury, is marked by fragmentation brought about by geographical, economic and political shifts. Several of the world’s most powerful commercial gallerists – Larry Gagosian (2), Iwan Wirth (4), David Zwirner (5), Marc Glimcher (17) and Jay Jopling (20) continue to expand their businesses across the globe, opening galleries in Hong Kong and Latin America, and creating ever-grander spaces in which to stage large-scale exhibitions in London, New York and Paris. Power has become more diffuse geographically, as economies in the Far East, the Global South and the Middle East surge. This year’s biggest climber is Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani (12, up from 90 on last year’s list), who heads the Qatar Museums Authority, a high profile collector and supporter of major exhibitions across the globe.

At the same time, art has more than ever become a space for protest, with artists, curators and organisations taking up the causes of the Occupy movement, the jailed members of Pussy Riot (57), or the censorship issues raised by last year’s number 1, Ai Weiwei (3 in 2012). Art is seen increasingly as a space of social and political commentary, a shift highlighted by Christov-Bakargiev’s engagement with current conflicts, notably the war in Afghanistan, and in the work of artists such as Theaster Gates (56) and Walid Raad (77), and writers such as Boris Groys (61), Slavoj Žižek (65) and Jacques Rancière (92).

Accompanying the Power 100 list for the first time this year are extended day-in-the-life feature profiles of key individuals: the New Museum’s Massimiliano Gioni (19), Kunsthalle Zurich’s Beatrix Ruf (7), collector Christian Boros (70) and Glasgow-based gallerist Toby Webster (51). Reflecting the interconnected networks distributed across the list, ArtReview this year has staged several discussions in the magazine between individuals included on the Power 100.

The annual ranking of the contemporary art world’s most influential players hits newsstands today with a cover created by artist John Baldessari.

The list in full runs as follows:

1. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev

2. Larry Gagosian

3. Ai Weiwei

4. Iwan Wirth

5. David Zwirner

6. Gerhard Richter

7. Beatrix Ruf

8. Nicholas Serota

9. Glenn D. Lowry

10. Hans Ulrich Obrist & Julia Peyton-Jones

11. Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani

12. Anton Vidokle, Julieta Aranda & Brian Kuan Wood (e-flux)

13. Cindy Sherman

14. Alain Seban & Alfred Pacquement

15. Adam D. Weinberg

16. Annette Schönholzer, Marc Spiegler & Magnus Renfrew

17. Marc Glimcher

18. Marian Goodman

19. Massimiliano Gioni

20. Jay Jopling

21. François Pinault

22. Klaus Biesenbach

23. Matthew Slotover & Amanda Sharp

24. Barbara Gladstone

25. RoseLee Goldberg

26. Eli & Edythe Broad

27. Patricia Phelps de Cisneros

28. Bernard Arnault

29. Nicholas Logsdail

30. Liam Gillick

31. Ann Philbin

32. Victor Pinchuk

33. Maja Hoffmann

34. Tim Blum & Jeff Poe

35. Marina Abramović

36. Dakis Joannou

37. Udo Kittelmann

38. Monika Sprüth & Philomene Magers

39. Matthew Marks

40. Gavin Brown

41. Damien Hirst

42. Rosemarie Trockel

43. Wolfgang Tillmans

44. Agnes Gund

45. Chus Martínez

46. Isa Genzken

47. Iwona Blazwick

48. Anne Pasternak

49. Sadie Coles

50. Daniel Buchholz

51. Toby Webster

52. Adam Szymczyk

53. James Lingwood & Michael Morris

54. William Wells & Yasser Gerab

55. Michael Ringier

56. Theaster Gates

57. Pussy Riot

58. Jeff Koons

59. Steve McQueen

60. Takashi Murakami

61. Boris Groys

62. Emmanuel Perrotin

63. Richard Chang

64. Tim Neuger & Burkhard Riemschneider

65. Slavoj Zizek

66. Thaddaeus Ropac

67. Chang Tsong-zung

68. Elena Filipovic

69. Tino Sehgal

70. Christian Boros & Karen Lohmann

71. Luisa Strina

72. Claire Hsu

73. José Kuri & Mónica Manzutto

74. Brett Gorvy & Amy Cappellazzo

75. Tobias Meyer & Cheyenne Westphal

76. Budi Tek

77. Walid Raad

78. Cuauhtémoc Medina

79. Massimo De Carlo

80. Bernardo Paz

81. Christine Tohme

82. Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi & Maurizio Rigillo

83. John Baldessari

84. Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi

85. Dasha Zhukova

86. Vasif Kortun

87. Anita & Poju Zabludowicz

88. Candida Gertler

89. Gisela Capitain

90. Carol Greene

91. Franco Noero & Pierpaolo Falone

92. Jacques Rancière

93. Miuccia Prada

94. Maureen Paley

95. Don, Mera, Jason & Jennifer Rubell

96. Paul Chan

97. Victoria Miro

98. Adriano Pedrosa

99. Johann König

100. Gregor Podnar