A break from routine advertising

The Rococo Art Gallery buzzed with artists from across the City for ‘The O Show,’ an art exhibition by Ogilvy & Mather India Worldwide, the advertisement agency. A collection of photographs, paintings, sketches, collages and poetry, exclusively by the Ogilvy & Mather team members, were on display.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Tham Khai Meng, Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather’s Worldwide Creative Council. The artists who contributed to the exhibition were members of Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore. Poran Malani, president of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide said, “We exclusively wanted to showcase the talent of our team members in Bangalore and give them a chance to exhibit their talent apart from routine advertising. There were around 60 people who participated and the best have been selected and presented to the people.”

Ajai Chavan, who has most number of paintings in the exhibition, said, “My passion for paintings began in Mumbai and flourished in Bangalore. The exhibition is good platform for us to display our creation as I spend hours on them.”

This exhibition also aims to put an end to the debate as to whether advertising is an art or not. Poran said, “Advertising is without doubt an art form. It can nurture interest in new movements in art and design. In fact, contemporary artists have been plundering the iconography of advertising for the better part of the past 40 years.”

Tham Khai Meng was awed by the creations of Bangalore artists. He was of the opinion that art can’t be termed as right or wrong. Tham said Indian artists have great potential to showcase their talent internationally.

The company hopes to make this show an annual affair with an eye on attracting the talents of the youth in the City.