Biography:

From Polish ancestry, artist Cherie Dacko has family roots in Chicago, but was raised in Tampa. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Fine Art.

Following college, Cherie joined the El Sama artist co-op in Ybor City, Florida. She continued to paint and exhibit, but it was her "paycheck" job that allowed Cherie to perfect her technique. With 25 plus years in portrait, commercial and antique photo restoration, the artist developed award-winning skills for creating images of the human form. In 2007, after raising her son, she rented studio space in the historic district of Sanford, Florida and began painting full time. After 3 years and about 200 paintings later, Dacko's style evolved into a unique style of portraiture she describes as "Bent Realism." The subjects are familiar but the distortion will challenge your comfort level.

An admitted people-watcher, Cherie is inspired by unusual people with expressive bodies or a quirky fashion sense, but her subjects are not of this world.

"My work eliminates the boundaries of culture and eras, celebrates the imperfect and challenges the viewer to bend their concept of physical reality. Having worked for years as a photographic retoucher, I was under the mistaken impression that one must alter their natural look to be “attractive.” Now I paint in direct opposition to that cultural standard. The human forms in my paintings are somewhere between reality and invention, but each flaw or mood is universally understood."

Dacko currently divides her time between working in a public studio in Gallery on First and creating more involved pieces in a private studio. Her distinctive style has garnered a loyal following ranging in ages 9 to 90. Cherie's work is in collections throughout the United States , Canada and France, including that of Stephen Colbert, political satirist.

Résumé:

                                                       Selected Exhibits

 

 

Nov. 15 - 17, 2019 - Art Under the Stars: 43rd Annual Maitland Rotary Art Festival , Maitland, FL

Nov. 17- Nov. 18, 2018 - Maitland Rotary Art Festival 2018, 42nd Annual,  Maitland, FL

February 2018 – Dreamscapes, Dandelion Communitea Café, Thornton Park, Orlando, FL

February 2016 - 41st Annual Mount Dora Arts Festival, Mount Dora, FL

March 2015 - Cinematic Distractions and Dreams, Gallery at Avalon Island, Orlando.

March 2014 - Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Tampa, FL

October 2013 - Got Art? Gallery on First, Historic Hotchkiss Building, Sanford, FL

April 2013 - Expanding Visions, Florida Museum for Women Artists, DeLand, FL

March 2013 - pARTicipation: Class of 2011 and 2012, Maitland Art Center Galleries

April 2013 - Sideshow of the Senses: pARTicipation 2013, Maitland Art Center Mayan Courtyard and Galleries, Maitland, FL

September 2012 - Musique, On The Rocks, Downtown Arts District, Orlando, FL. 

May 2012 - Visual Fringe  at Lownden Shakespeare Theater, Orlando, FL

April 2012 - The 40th annual Santa Fe College Spring Arts Festival, Gainesville, FL        

March 2012 - pARTicipation   the Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL

February 2012 - Heaven's Devils, Germaine Marvel Building, Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL

January  2012- Pop Up Gallery, The Mosaic Station, Sanford, FL.

Nov. 2011- March 2012 - Biennial Six, The Museum of Florida Art, DeLand, FL

Sept - Nov. 2011- Second Annual Juried Exhibition the Florida Museum for Women Artists, DeLand, FL

August 2011- Private studio opened in historic downtown Sanford, FL

Dec  2010 - Booth in Fountain Miami, Wynwood Art District, Miami, FL, Art Basel week

July 2010 - BLEND: A Live Art Event Artist Collaboration, Orlando, FL

June 2010 - Hot Summer Nights, Gallery in Sanford, FL

May 2010 - Visual Fringe, Orlando Fringe Festival,,Lowdens Shakespeare Theater, Orlando

May 2010 - Masterpiece in a Day Silent Auction Benefit for Meals on Wheels, Etc. Rozzie Marks         Gallery, Sanford, FL

Mar 2010 - Nude Nite Tampa, Tampa Armature Works, Tampa, FL

Mar 2010 - 100 4 $100. Extreme Art Show, Rozzie Marks Gallery, Sanford, FL

Feb 2010 - Nude Nite Orlando, Orlando, FL

Jan 2010 - Personal Armor: Artists' Concepts of Aprons,  Blackrock Center for the Arts, Germantown, Maryland

Dec 2009 - Jan 2010 5th Annual Artists Registry Members Juried Exhibition Gallery at Avalon Island, Orlando FL

Dec 2009 - The Art of Giving, fundraiser for the Kids House of Seminole County Children's Advocacy Center

Oct. 2009 - Rach-tober: Music Meets Art, First Thursday Event, Orlando Museum of Art

May-June 2009 - A Matter of Art, Casselberry City Hall

May 2009 - Pinups, First Thursdays Event, Orlando Museum of Art

Jan-Feb 2009 - Vibrant Visions, Gallery at Avalon Island, Downtown Orlando, FL

Oct 2006 - Double Vision, Florida Artist of the Month solo show at Orlando Museum of Art's Founder's Gallery

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