Band-wagon

A brass band musician rehearsing on his clarinet in his pyjamas. Two men frantically riding a cycle with their musical instruments dangling by the side. A mottled hue of green, with hands playing diligently on a saxophone. The collection of these paintings sound vast, queer and varied. Musicians from brass bands, is the subject chosen by artist Chandrakant Kulkarni to not just conduct a detailed painstaking research but to also paint 24 paintings, which are currently displayed at the Art2Day gallery, recently opened at the Hyatt Regency. The exhibition, which was inaugurated on Friday, will be on till October 15 from 10 am to 9 pm.

Kulkarni confesses that though he has always been fascinated by the colours of the uniforms of the army and the police, he felt differently about the musicians. "There is no respect for these musicians. They too wear a uniform but unlike a policeman or a military personnel, the uniform is insignificant. More importantly there is no creativity in the profession. They just play regular tunes on a musical instrument that they are good at playing. There is a sort of dull monotony in their lives. Something that they hide under their plastic smiles, not letting anyone know about their sorrows," he says. All this combined with the riot of colours in their uniforms, inspired him to paint about their lives.

It was with this thought that Kulkarni set about on his project a couple of years back. Setting up his research in the old city, which is home to numerous brass bands, he says that he spoke to them about their lives, their little joys, big sorrows and the apparent dullness of their profession. "At times they would just talk and I would hear them out. It all made for important topics when I was actually doing the paintings," he says.

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