HONDA CLASSIC TO SHOWCASE LARGEST OUTDOOR FINE ART EXHIBIT
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL – The grounds of The Honda Classic will evolve into a showcase for the world’s largest outdoor fine art exhibit in 2008 when Bulgarian artist Kiril Jeliazkov brings his 128-canvas display called “The Orange Step” to Palm Beach County’s largest sporting event.
The outdoor exhibit received rave reviews during its international premiere in Yambol, Bulgaria and its United States premiere in Savannah, Georgia last fall. Its appearance at The Honda Classic is being sponsored by Wealth Management of Palm Beach, The Grikitis Group, and the Art For Everyone Foundation, a public non-profit organization which supports Kiril’s projects and is establishing a Fine Art academy in Eastern Europe for talented children. The Grikitis Group and Wealth Management of Palm Beach are donating $25,000 to The Honda Classic's foundation Children's Healthcare Charity, Inc..
The Orange Step project is a single composition of 128 original paintings, each 20 feet high by 10 feet wide. They will be displayed throughout the tournament grounds at PGA National Resort & Spa. It is the first time a major outdoor art exhibit has been staged in conjunction with a PGA TOUR event.
“The Honda Classic is all about firsts. We are extremely excited to be able to bring this unique exhibit to the tournament,” Honda Classic Executive Director Kenneth R. Kennerly said. “It is a continuation of our efforts toward evolving into a diverse event for the people of Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast who have varied interests, but a common bond to have fun and be entertained. These paintings will provide an awesome backdrop to the event.”
The idea for this exhibit originated three years ago. Kiril’s vision became reality in the dank confines of a rented gymnasium in his hometown in Bulgaria. The Orange Step was designed and created for display in parks, gardens and other wide-open spaces.
Carefully selected, weather resistant materials were used in the creation of The Orange Step. The paintings are on vinyl with specially-produced water-based paints. Kiril used two tons of paint to cover the 880 yards of vinyl canvas. He designed custom support structures for the exhibit made of 13 tons of iron.
In describing his one-of-a-kind work of art, Kiril says, “Each journey begins with a single step. My journey begins with The Orange Step.”
Kiril uses his own footprint to sign each canvas in orange paint. The project is based on the idea that art is for everyone and that is why its gallery is the perfect nature.
It has been eight years since Kiril left Bulgaria after finishing the High School of Art in the town of Kazanlak and spending two years at the National Academy of Arts – Sofia. He came to the U.S. in 1999 to continue his education in the Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia, with a full presidential scholarship.
He has traveled the world in search of his own style. In 2001, he went to Africa where for 40 days he recreated the local color and mysticism of Kenya on his canvases. Some time later he visited Turkey. He went back to the States with a rich collection of canvases, which had preserved the customs of the Eastern culture in a new way – through the vision of the young artist and his idiosyncratic touch. The paintings from both trips impressed the American audience and were immediately sold out.
Kiril has participated in many exhibitions in Bulgaria, USA and Europe. In 2002, he won the competition for his own studio in Times Square in New York and since then he has been able to paint among the artistic elite of Manhattan. One of his biggest appearances was in 2003 when he presented Bulgaria at a big exhibition in the UN building in Manhattan, to which 29 artists from 21 different countries were invited.
In 2006 he presented his first large-scale project The Orange Step, which he now will bring to the Honda Classic.
The Honda Classic, Palm Beach County’s largest sporting event, awarded more than $505,000 to area children’s charities in 2007, allowing the tournament to surpass the $15 million mark in charitable contributions during American Honda’s 27-year tenure as title sponsor.