Art for Change: Meet the Judges for Australia

This year’s prize asks emerging artists to submit work in response to the theme ‘Regeneration’, bringing the opportunity to create new stories of a liveable future and motivate people to do what it takes to be a driving force for the change we need. 

Six winners from around the world will be decided by some of the best business and creative minds from the M&C Saatchi Group globally and eminent guest judges. 

In this Art for Change series, we hear from our regional judges. Find out what makes them tick artistically, why this year’s theme is so critical, and what they are looking for in our winners.

Introducing our judges for Australia: Emma Robbins, national executive creative director at M&C Saatchi Australia, Patrick Guerrera, founder and chief executive officer at Re, part of M&C Saatchi Group, Claire Bridge, artist Melbourne Now 2023, National Gallery of Victoria.

Q> If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Emma> The power to make every glass half full. 

Pat> The ability to heal. I recently read The Myth of Normal by Daniel Maté and Gabor Maté and I think their insights linking trauma and chronic illness powerful and transformational. An ability to heal others, and save them from such illness and pain, would be my superpower pick, without question.

Claire> To regenerate the Amazon Rain Forest and Great Barrier Reef in the blink of an eye. I wish it was that simple, but to regenerate these places without a massive cultural shift would only add more fuel to the fire, more resources to strip and burn, and more endless extraction. Instead for my superpower, I want to be able to be in multiple places at once, simultaneously. I can be in my studio working, go to my friend's opening, plant trees in my neighbourhood, and be on that holiday in Barcelona I've been dreaming about.

Q> How would you sum up your job in three words?

Emma> Roll Er Coaster 

Pat> Demanding. Inspiring. Ever-changing.

Claire> Inspiration. Application. Magic.

Q> Where do you find inspiration for your work?

Emma> In the everyday-ness of public transport, the footy, the supermarket. These are the CD's we're trying to impress every day. 

Pat> Everywhere I can. Literature, theatre, film, people, travel and obsessively observing my incredible peers. I'm obsessed with the incredible output from design studios at the moment and how we are blurring the lines between traditional brand design and digital experience. It's such an exciting time for design, especially with the array of AI tools being thrown into the mix.

Claire> In nature, myth, stories, philosophy, poetry, and science, especially the writings of Adrienne Marie Brown, Audre Lorde, Mary Oliver, Sophie Strand, Karan Barad and Bayo Akomolafe.

Q> Why did you agree to judge this year’s Art for Change Prize?

Emma> It's both humbling and enlightening.   

Pat> It's such an extraordinary and critical initiative from M&C Saatchi. DE&I is getting a rough wrap in some places at the moment and this prize is absolutely focused on uncovering and amplifying the artistic brilliance of a diverse cohort of artists globally.  As a business with creativity at its heart, I can't think of anything more important and relevant we could be doing!

Claire> It's a brilliant opportunity for artists and one I'm happy to support. I'm excited to see what artists will do with the theme and how their creativity can add energy and momentum to making change.

Q> This year’s theme is ‘Regeneration’. Why do you think this theme is so important?

Emma> We all hear over and over that we need to reverse what we've done to the world. I love this is about SEEING it. 

Pat> I started my responses with the dream of healing as my superpower. And the same idea rings true for this question. The war in Ukraine, the Pandemic, brutal culture wars in the US and global economic headwinds is fuelling anxiety and disconnection. Regeneration - healing that delivers hope through change and action - has never been more important. An incredibly relevant territory for artists in 2023.

Claire> It’s us who need to regenerate. We need to urgently change what most humans are doing to this miraculous, incredible planet. We need to regenerate our thinking, our actions, how we live, how we do business, how we eat, how we power our activities, how we travel, how we nurture or damage our environments. We need to care for our planet and each other now - innovate, change, and regenerate - so that the next generation and their children inherit a thriving world - not the hell hole of climate catastrophes, rising oceans, floods, forest fires, forced migration, homelessness, global food, water and clean breathing air shortages, economic collapse, war, disease and illness that we are leaving for them right now.

Q> If you could have your portrait painted by one artist from art history, who would it be?

Emma> Brett Whiteley 

Pat> I just experienced the "Basquiat x Warhol Painting Four Hands exhibition in Paris, and they would be my choice. (I know, that's kind of two artists...) I'm a bit obsessed with Warhol's queer pop culture brand references fused with Basquiat's expression of the Black American experience (anger, fury...). The works are confronting, complex and unapologetic. They hit me hard, and I felt an incredible connection to them.

Claire> First up, I'd choose to re-write history with the work and stories of women, femmes and non-binary peeps. Not necessarily a portrait, but any painting by Jenny Saville, Nusra Latif Qureshi, Teelah George, Rithika Merchant, Marilyn Minter, or the visionary Hilma af Klimt.

Q> You’re judging entries for Australia. What will you be looking for as a judge?

Emma> To be moved, and to be motivated. I love that art can do that. 

Pat> I want to see and feel a profound insight and expression into what regeneration means to the artist and how that may impact their perception of the world and their community. I want to be hit in the heart, surprised, shocked and left thinking for hours about it. It's got to make me work hard.

Claire> Beyond the foundations of material skill and conceptual agility, I'm looking for a quality of surprise, a sense of expansion, and the tangibility of an artist's voice. 

Q> Do you think art can create meaningful change?

Emma> Art has the power to make people stop, stand still in front of an issue, connect, and think. That's how change starts. 

Pat> I think that's what great art always does. It creates change, provocation, discomfort. Even revolution. Art must create meaningful change, otherwise let's redirect it to a homewares store for décor...

Claire> Yes Art does make change. Art brings us together, inspires, motivates and challenges the status quo, it offers new possibilities and pathways, puts us in touch with what matters and lifts our spirits. Art's only limit is our imagination, and with that we can change the world.