Millennial art donors told blind-judged $100,000 painting prize will alienate art establishment
The donors behind a $100k art prize want to avoid bias and have taken a pot-shot at the Archibalds: ‘If you like watching artists painting other artists, then there’s lots of stuff there for you.’
Young philanthropists Zuzanna Kamusinski and Jake Phillpot are launching a $100,000 painting prize that will celebrate “the beauty of Australian life” – yet they say they have been warned their lucrative award will put the “entire art establishment” off-side.
To be launched in 2026, the Banksia Prize will feature a blind judging process, “ensuring every work is valued purely on merit’’ and the winner will be “the work that evokes the strongest sense of pride in being Australian” and has the power “to move people”.
The award’s Brisbane-based co-founders, who are married and in their early 30s, says they are setting up the award because they believe there is a disconnect between Australia’s high living standards, physical beauty and multicultural harmony and how the nation is often represented in prize-winning art.
“Australians enjoy one of the best qualities of life in the world,’’ they say in a provocative statement. “But you wouldn’t know it from the winning entries of our top art prizes. Many of today’s prestigious awards and exhibitions no longer reflect the values and culture of everyday Australians. Instead, they increasingly favour works and artists that fit a particular social or political narrative.’’
The art lovers say that when they approached a major cultural institution about their prize, they were warned it “goes against the entire art establishment in Australia”.
Despite the fact they are willing to fund the award into the future, the museum said their prize “would not be welcome” at that institution, which the couple chose not to name.
Kamusinski says they were surprised at the museum’s reaction, yet “it also made us feel like there obviously is some kind of bias in the industry if there’s controversy over what we want to do”.
Entries to the Banksia Prize will open in January, with the winner announced in November. To be eligible, paintings must have been created in the previous 12 months by “someone living in Australia or an Australian citizen overseas”.
The judging panel will comprise a mix of art experts and non-experts and the judging criteria will be “beauty in composition, beauty in craftsmanship and the work that evokes the strongest sense of pride in being Australian’’.
The philanthropists have called their award the Banksia Prize because these flowers “are uniquely Australian”, thrive in every state and capture the nation’s resilience and rugged beauty.
In their founding statement, the Brisbane couple also say the Banksia Prize’s blind judging process “offers all artists an equal chance to be recognised’’.
They claim that “in most of our nation’s top art prizes, judges are aware of who created each work, allowing bias to creep in”.
“Judges of the Banksia Prize won’t know who the artist is, ensuring every work is valued purely on merit,” they say.
Kamusinski, an agricultural marketer turned stay-at-home mother, and Phillpot, co-founder and CEO of HR software company Tanda, which is used by more than 5000 businesses, tell The Australian their award is not a case of buying into the culture wars. Instead, it is about rising above them.
Phillpot says: “We don’t want to fight the culture wars … we are trying to make something that’s completely clear of that.
“We want it to be something that grows in popularity and prestige and becomes nationally significant.
“And you can’t get that if you focus on a very narrow (agenda).’’
The software entrepreneur says that when he and Kamusinski flew to Sydney to see this year’s Archibald Prize – the nation’s most famous portraiture award – they were taken aback to see how many of the short-listed works showed artists being painted by other artists.
Almost 40 per cent of the 57 finalist paintings, whittled down from 904 entries, were portraits of artists by other artists.
Quips Phillpot: “If you like watching ABC presenters and you like watching artists painting other artists, then there’s lots of stuff there for you.’’
In other examples of art world insularity, the philanthropists felt some prize outcomes were influenced by artists’ genders, CVs or insider knowledge of different art contexts.
The daughter of Polish immigrants who escaped communism and found sanctuary in Australia, Kamusinski says that move “made us somewhat the luckiest people in the world to be able to grow up in Australia”
“We’ve got an incredibly successful story of immigration and beautiful landscapes, beautiful people,” she says.
“But when you look at the art that’s put on the pedestal about what represents Australia today … you’d think sometimes that this country was a horrible place.’’
Asked if they were concerned the art establishment would see their prize as too nationalistic or conservative, Kamusinski replies: “We know there might be a response and it’s probably not going to be in our favour.’’
However, she says it is untrue “that we’re launching this award as a protest”.
She and her husband were filling a gap in prize culture and wanted the Banksia Prize “to be about art, to be about the viewers and celebrating Australia’’.
The millennial art donors are parents to Jack, 20 months, and are expecting their second child in December.
They want to see their prize endure and inspire “a new wave of creativity that celebrates everything good about this country’’.
For more information about the Banksia Prize, go to banksia.com
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