Top 200 Collectors

Most collectors prefer to keep their holdings locked away in secret, out of view of the public. But Shane Akeroyd did something different when, in 2023, he created a website that housed information about nearly 200 moving-image works that he owned. It was a small segment of his holdings—roughly 15 percent of the 1,500 pieces in his possession at the time—but it offered a rare glimpse into a private collection that was suddenly very public-facing.

On that website was information about works that Akeroyd had bought over the years, including one of the first pieces he had ever acquired, a 1996 video called Flashers by the artist Adam Chodzko. There was documentation of works by Sin Wai Kin, Mark Leckey, P. Staff, Tony Cokes, and Sondra Perry, and there were even clips of videos by Martine Syms. Other major artists represented in the collection include Joan Jonas, Charles Atlas, Ed Akins, Helen Marten, Alex da Corte, Jeremy Deller, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, and Sonia Boyce. “Having work in storage is an unfortunate reality, although something that often does neither the work nor artists any good,” he told ARTnews. “My moving image collection is all about making work ‘available’ to those who might not ordinarily have access.”

Akeroyd has long shown a willingness to support the kind of art few other patrons would. Among the artists he counts as close friends are Sarah Lucas, Joan Jonas, and Sonia Boyce. Akeroyd has also helped fund a VR project by the award-winning Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul for the Aichi Triennale in Japan, and he has thrown his support behind cutting-edge alternative spaces like Para Site in Hong Kong and the Chisenhale Gallery in London. Additionally, he has also been a patron to museums like M+ and Tate, as well as endowing an associate curator position at the Venice Biennale’s British Pavilion through 2030.