Some people buy art because a painting reminds them of their childhood cat or because their best friend owns something similar. However, business people are collecting art to create a corporate signature or establish global positioning. And the individuals behind the (corporate) scenes are enjoying both the collecting process and the powerful ripple effects.

Over the past five years many corporations, most notably Deutsche Bank, Foster's Group, BHP Billiton, Orica and Coles Myer, have been selling the paintings they bought from the 1970s to '90s. After wiping away a few tears as we watch major works by Boyd, Nolan, Whisson or Olsen go under the auction hammer, we can see that the replacements - installations, monumental photographs and DVD art in bold refurbished offices - are worthy of close attention.

Most interesting are the corporate collections undergoing a metamorphosis at the hands of a group of women: Sally Dan Cuthbert, Barbara Flynn and Virginia Wilson are art consultants with integrity, business acumen and an eye for the latest and best in art. They have advised art committees at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Deloitte, Austcorp and Deutsche Bank.

The motivation for the recent revamping of these corporate art collections is décor related. Corporations are endlessly merging and acquiring each other, so staff members must be relocated and office layouts changed. There are also the new high-tech plasma trading screens, and video and conference room screens to take into account. And many new refurbishments have a predominance of glass walling, veneer panelling or aluco-bonding, which make the hanging of art difficult.

The works in these new collections are new media (or old media used in new ways) and are conceptually challenging. Corporate art is generally more adventurous than the art we see in the average punter's living room. This may be partly due to the freedom allowed by exhibiting the art in a semi-public environment. The art is there to be discussed and as a reflection of the corporation's vision. This personal detachment may allow a degree of risk-taking.

Dan Cuthbert discovered that the managing director of stockbroking firm Goldman Sachs, Alistair Walton, "had a good understanding of contemporary art and wanted something different and groovy". Dan Cuthbert responded to the different environments of Goldman's Sydney and Melbourne offices when developing her art proposal: "I used the architect's plans and their colour boards. The light and the views are different in each city. I wanted to use a few highlights of the old collection by picking out a Brack or an Olsen that I thought I could marry into the new scheme but it didn't work. In a house, yes, but in the new offices the art has to be as smart and as sharp". Koori light installation artist, Jonathan Jones, whose work graces the foyer, is nothing if not sharp.

It is interesting that during these conservative times, corporations still want to spend money on art. For our art collecting predecessors, such as US financier John Pierpont
Morgan, whose collection was worth $113 million at the time of his death in 1913, it was an addiction rather than a sense of corporate responsibility. But Lindsay Powers, Minter Ellison partner, whose collection was compiled by Biennale board member and art consultant Amanda Love, says, "we want a stimulating environment for our staff to work in. Our vision of being a leading-edge, innovative law firm is certainly reflected in the piece we have by Patricia Piccinini . some of our clients have remarked that one of our Bill Henson photographs is strangely haunting".

So art has now gained the role of 'corporate conversation piece'. A Shaun Gladwell skateboarding DVD (Goldman Sachs) or a Michaela Dwyer sculpture hanging from the ceiling (Deloitte) is now a means of breaking the ice and defusing potentially strained business meetings. And the art also has to encapsulate, in one breath, the core values or corporate identity of the company.

Natasha Fuller, curator of BHP Billiton who is based in South Africa, says the collection is "a medium through which discussion and debate take place. The old collection had lost a lot of its vision. It commenced with a similar intention of supporting emerging young artists". Louise Weaver, Anne Wallace, Scott Redford and Noel McKenna are a few of the young artists represented in the BHP Billiton collection, along with Aboriginal artist Peggy Patrick. Macquarie Bank curator Elizabeth Morell says "a few artists that have caught our eye in recent times would include Vera Moller, Saskia Leek and Doreen Nakamarra".

The response from corporate staff members seems to be mainly positive with only a few curmudgeons communicating a predictable gripe: oh, so that's where my annual bonus has gone. Even so, Dan Cuthbert says she now installs new work on the weekends because of provocative and defensive comments. Virginia Wilson, art consultant to Deutsche Bank, says "apparently everyone's been dressing up a bit to come to work since we installed the art".

One of Deutsche Bank's new photographic works, entitled Tour of duty, by Melbourne artist Matthew Sleeth, is troubling. On first glance it could be pro-war propaganda but on closer appraisal it is a helicopter delivering aid to Timor. "There has been a strong response to this work," says Wilson. "But that's great because it's getting people to talk about the art."

Wilson also says that "one of the main reasons I was chosen [by Deutsche] was because they didn't want to be made to feel ignorant about art". This is an interesting insight: corporate personnel want to be stimulated by art and they want to discuss it but they are not interested in an elite over-intellectualisation of it.

Deutsche Bank has the largest corporate art holding in the world. The design of the new Sydney building, care of London firm Foster and Associates, is masculine and formidable - if you're courageous enough to get through the austere foyer, you then have to brave the terrifying glass elevators. The new collection found its genesis in old works by international artist Gerhard Richter. Wilson retrieved his lithographs of coloured grids from the old musty offices in Melbourne and had them restored. They unintentionally relate to a new installation by New Zealand artist Michael Parakowhai called Currency of colour - appropriate to the bank. It comprises car-duco painted aluminium blocks and relates to children's cuisenaire counting rods.

Another Deutsche work which inadvertently alludes to money is an installation by Nike Savvas of blue and silver plastic discs stuck on the wall called Cascade, which waterfalls down four floors of Deutsche Bank, past all the traders. A cheeky staff member has added a few 10 cent pieces. However, the reception area's Rosemary Laing photo of a back-flipping bride, visible from the glass elevators, provides a quirky sense of mystery.

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. Flynn's approach is a little different: she proposed an option which allowed Deloitte to build up its collection with slow consideration while allowing emerging and established artists the opportunity to be exposed to a new audience.

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.

Adam Cullen and Ben Quilty's paintings are represented - sketchbooks by 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.

Within the corporate art framework is the opportunity for events. Flynn organises artists' talks and Dan Cuthbert arranged a large opening for the Goldman Sachs refurbishment unveiling. "It was as big as any biennale opening," says Dan Cuthbert. "The company flew up Anna Schwarz and other gallery owners from Melbourne. They brought artist TV Moore from New York and other artists from around Australia. They wanted the staff to interact with the artists. They wanted the staff to be well versed so they could talk to clients and start collecting themselves." Macquarie Bank, too, stages art tours and talks as part of client or staff functions.

While there is repetition across the companies with respect to the key words of collective corporate vision, such as 'multicultural fabric' and 'innovation', it is nevertheless encouraging to stumble across such an open and embracing attitude towards new art - evidence of real corporate social responsibility. A new audience is being exposed to very challenging works and this may encourage a new generation to start personal collections which pack a punch.

Image: Michelle Ussher, Picnichead, 2006, site specific wall drawing in pencil, 2 x 2m approx. Photograph by Jenni Carter.