Art expert Barbara Flynn, who has many years’ experience owning galleries in New York and working in museums in Germany, was asked to value art collections in the Melbourne and Sydney branches of accounting firm Deloitte and was invited to advise on future acquisitions.
exhibitions featured more than 200 women, Asian-born, Aboriginal,
emerging, mid-career and senior artists who benefited equally from inclusion.
Commissioner Deloitte
CuratorBarbara Flynn, Art Advisor
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Flynn suggested staging regular exhibitions. From each exhibition, at least two or three works would be purchased for the collection. Flynn invited a group, comprising a museum curator, a collector, an artist and Deloitte executives, to be involved in the acquisition selection process. ‘Lots of corporate Australia sees these shows,’ says Flynn. ‘The company has a philosophy of innovation, supporting women and diversity.’ Jiawei Shen, Destiny Deacon and Selina Ou fulfil that cultural diversity in the current exhibition. Patricia Piccinini’s DVD, Sandman, on the six reception screens is mesmerising – films by TV Moore and James Lynch were screened previously. Sketchbooks by Adam Cullen (who was on the first acquisition selection panel) are exhibited in a showcase as an insight into the creative process. Newcomer Michelle Ussher's intimate pencil drawing made directly on a hallway wall and Adrienne Doig’s embroidery are an inquiry into the adoption of traditional materials and skills used in a new way.
Prue Gibson, 'Corporate Collectors', Australian Art Review, July October 2006, p. 71.