How often have we seen someone distractingly fiddle with their mobile phones in the middle of a conversation? To lose focus and get distracted with phone calls and messages, seems to be humanity’s new pastime.

Visionary British artist Robin Fletcher intends to bring this to the fore with an array of 12 paintings on the topic of phubbing and more, in his upcoming exhibition titled ‘Happy in the Solace of Illusion’.

But that’s not all! Robin has a sleek surprise for the glamour world. At his show from 20th to 24th August at Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery, Nariman Point, Mumbai, he will have a special painting dedicated to one of the Indian media’s biggest pastimes — DeepVeer — aka Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.

British artist Robin Fletcher – Pic 3

Ranveer Singh & Deepika Padukone (Image courtesy – Internet), British artist Robin Fletcher (inset)

British artist Robin Fletcher, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone (Image courtesy – Internet)

British artist Robin Fletcher, Ranveer Singh & Deepika Padukone (Image courtesy – Internet)

British artist Robin Fletcher – Pic 2

British artist Robin Fletcher – Pic 1

The grand Bollywood celebrity power couple’s wedding last year, not only created a furor and had the paparazzi in action, but was one of the most coveted events the industry ever witnessed. The news media and fans went gaga over it for weeks in the end.

And now Robin is all set to capture that media hoopla, and club it with his subject, all in a painting. “Yes, it’s about phubbing and also how we let our devices distract ourselves from reality,” says Robin. “And there’s a twist,” he adds mysteriously.

For the uninitiated, Robin Fletcher is a perceptive artist from London, now residing in Goa, and engaged to beauty queen Zeenia Figueiredo. ‘Happy in the Solace of Illusion’ is his first exhibition in India, for which he has custom-designed a new type of installation, where no frame is needed for his paintings, and the canvas appears to be suspended away from the wall with no visible fixings.

Needless to say, even the Ranveer-Deepika painting will adorn the walls with this techno ease.