Watch Sergey Cherep at a live painting demonstration on April 13, 2012, Friday at 6pm! While enjoying hors d'oeuvres and wine, witness him create masterpieces right before your eyes. He will also be showcasing some of his newest artworks.

Sergey Cherep’s signature style is part Post-Impressionist - heavy brushstrokes and amorphous silhouettes - and part Modernist – depictions of scenes free from the confines of any social imperatives. These art movements historically rivaled each other, but appear to perfectly coalesce in his work, creating a mood and storyline so palpable that it seems to be another world that exists in our Modern world.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1969, Sergey’s creative and artistic talents were recognized early. Sergey started studying art as a young child. At the age of 3 , he developed meningitis and became paralyzed, unable to walk or speak for several years.

Attending a School for children with disabilities until he was 7 , he found comfort in painting. At the age of 8, he was enrolled in a school for artists and then went on to attend college at the prestigious Serovo Art Institute . There he gained extensive knowledge in all the classic art forms including European Art History, photography, printing processes, sculpture, restoration methods and painting from still-life to portraits.

“School was very disciplined,” says Sergey, who is still deaf in his right ear from his childhood meningitis. “We did very traditional things like still-life, painting bowls and squares. The teachers told us what to paint - there was no freedom. There was no such thing as abstract because it was considered very Western and evil.”

Three years after graduating from school filled him with wanderlust and dreams of what he could accomplish in a less tradition and more open environment. So early in 1991, Sergey made the decision to come to America to find the artistic freedom he desperately desired.

The bold, unrealistic colors and expressive brushstrokes create a three-dimensional feeling out his works. His paintings are like fairy tales- a dream place where things are not as realistic as the subject matter themselves. “I allow the fantastic to happen. When I travel and paint, the sun, the grapes and the smells of California speak to me. But anything can motivate me--a picture, a cut watermelon, or even a color,” says Cherep.

RSVP for this event here! You can also pre-purchase any of his works so that he can personalize it the event. Click here to see all of Sergey's works at our online store.