Getting a glimpse of adman Freddy Birdy’s storyboard might be difficult, but a peek into his random thoughts requires just a quick trip to Delhi’s Nature Morte gallery. The creative director and owner of Shop advertising turns an artist with his first exhibition but the use of text, integral in his profession, is not forsaken. In fact, it is words that truly dominate his art. If the triptych There was a time when nobody ate sushi has disjoined observations such as “We are all Internet cousins” and “Nobody likes paying taxes”, on the canvas A perfect world, Birdy (pictured above) paints the dartboard with the word ART at its center. “This reflects my current state of mind, where art is most important,” says Birdy, who is credited with several popular advertising campaigns including Polo’s unforgettable line, “The mint with a hole” and the public service campaign “All You Have to Spend On the Elderly is Your Time”. “An artist allows the viewer to interpret his work but in an advertisement one wants the viewer to think about the product. The difference is in the objective. Othewise advertising is also art,” he adds.

So even when Birdy turned to canvas consumer products were hardly abandoned, instead like the text, they were incorporated in the work. In Mukesh Ambani-Money = Me the gag is on the artist, as he equates himself to Ambani. “This was painted when the construction of his new home that’s more like a palace, was in the news in Mumbai. In Delhi I was building my own palace, in GK II,” says Birdy, as he moves to another corner of the gallery to point to a canvas Contact Arora Properties. The blueprint of his apartment acts as the base and, once again, he scribbles the thoughts that crossed his mind while designing each room. In the balcony he promises “I will wait up for someone I love” and in the drawing room he vows “I will smile more at my reflection”. “This generated a lot of interest at the opening of the exhibition. People want me to make work based on their home,” smiles Birdy. Does this denote an exit from the advertising world? “I do not mind. There will be more exhibitions for certain,” promises Birdy.

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