When
Art Expo comes to Mandalay Bay September 18-21, one acclaimed award-winning
artist will be “painting the town” red and other primary colors as he paints
for the public that Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1-3 p.m. daily.
Sergey Cherep, who among his other accolades
and honors received the Muse Award for “Best in Oil Painting” at the 2nd
International ARTV Awards, which were held in Las Vegas and broadcast on the
NBC-Bravo TV network in 2007, will be filmed as he paints for an upcoming art
reality TV show created by Audrey Roberts, the founder of ARTV and a longtime
Las Vegas resident. Cherep will paint four small canvases each day, which will
be available for sale at the completion of his daily live demonstrations.
Cherep, who was born in St. Petersburg Russia,
is no stranger to that kind of pace. He
normally paints one to seven paintings per day,
creating as many as 300 new works of art a year. Having studied since the age of
8, he attended one of the most prestigious art schools in Europe, the Serovo Art
Institute, gaining extensive knowledge in all the classic art forms, including,
European art history, photography, printing processes, sculpture, restoration
methods, and painting everything from still life to portraits.
Cherep’s images reflect his love of color and his rejection of the
gray-skied realism prevalent in artwork in his native country. Imagination,
fueled by a lifetime of wanderlust, is the key to his lively landscapes and
seascapes that captivate audiences with the warmth and life they impart.
“The
technique of painting that I have embraced is definitely the Post Impressionism
style made famous by Van Gogh,” says Cherep, who is also a professor at the
Accademia del Verbanzo in Italy. “I love the simplicity of color and energy
found in his work. The bold, unrealistic colors and expressive brushstrokes of
my predecessors are my tools as I try to bring a three-dimensional feeling out
from the paintings by using color perspective and a thick texture. My paintings
are like fairy tales – a dream place. I don’t see things as realistic. I allow
for the fantastic to happen. When I travel and paint, the sun, grapes and smells
of California speak to me. But anything can motivate me – a picture, a cut
watermelon, or even a color.”
“Sergey’s paintings bring a smile to the viewer’s face,” adds
Audrey Roberts. “They light up every room. That is so refreshing in a trying
time.”
Cherep’s work is exhibited extensively in the United States as well
as in several European galleries, Australia, and in his home country
of Russia in St. Petersburg and Moscow. He is involved in numerous charitable
causes and is no stranger to Las Vegas in that respect, having done a duet
painting for charity with Mayor Oscar Goodman in 2001, for which the Mayor
proclaimed May 21, 2001 Sergey Cherep Day.
Cherep, who will be at Booth 1506 in the center of Art Expo, will
be donating a 12x18 framed painting titled “Sunflowers” to be auctioned off at
the event. Proceeds will benefit the Sunrise Hospital Children’s Foundation in
Las Vegas.
ARTPEACE!
Audrey Roberts
702-242-8811
artv123@gmail.com
