The Greatest 100 Artworks of the 21st Century (So Far)

A Quarter-Century of Creative Tumult

The past 25 years have been a whirlwind of global events—recessions, pandemics, wars, and technological upheavals. Amidst this chaos, art has mirrored the era's restless energy, burning through styles and tendencies faster than ever before.

At the 21st century's quarter point, ARTnews and Art in America editors embarked on the formidable task of selecting the 100 greatest artworks of this period. The sheer volume of incredible work made this a challenging endeavor, and inevitably, some deserving pieces were omitted.

This list is meant to spark discovery, reflection, and debate. It's a celebration of the restless creativity of the past 25 years, and an invitation to continue the conversation about the art that shapes our world.

Contributors: Francesca Aton, Andy Battaglia, Daniel Cassady, Anne Doran, Sarah Douglas, Maximiliano Durón, Alex Greenberger, Harrison Jacobs, Tessa Solomon, and Emily Watlington.

Xu Bing: Tobacco Project III: 1st Class (2011)

Half a million cigarettes, leaning against each other, form a tiger skin rug. The smell, even in pictures, is palpable. Xu Bing's installation not only stuns with its scale and materiality, but also offers a pungent commentary on global tobacco trade and the romanticized legacy of "Virginia Tobacco" in Chinese branding.

"The work’s mass and materiality were not only stunning and stinky; the piece’s enormity gave a glimpse of global supply chains." - E.W.

Ken Gonzales-Day: "Erased Lynching" (2002-)

Gonzales-Day's unsettling series depicts crowds gazing at seemingly ordinary trees. The chilling reality is that these trees were once the sites of lynched Latinx, Asian, and Native American men. By digitally erasing the victims, Gonzales-Day forces viewers to confront the white spectators, implicating them in the public spectacle of racial violence.

"Gonzales-Day’s jarring images force viewers to reckon with a form of collective violence that is perpetrated by regular people, frequently with little to no consequences." - M.D.

Anne Duk Hee Jordan: Culo de Papa (2021)

Inspired by the symbiotic relationship between sea cucumbers and fish, Jordan's provocative installation at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin featured 33 3D-printed copies of her own posterior, each with potatoes sprouting from the anus. This cheeky protest against nationalism and imperialism served as a reminder of Germany's colonial past and its exploitation of resources from other cultures.

"This cheeky retort to nationalism and imperialism was a reminder that Germany’s treasures, even its cuisine, are extracted from elsewhere." - E.W.