First, Maksim Chmerkovskiy danced with the stars, entertaining millions. Now he and painter Davood Roostaei are using their art to save lives and support Ukrainians affected by the Russian invasion.
Chmerkovskiy was working on “World of Dance” in Ukraine on Feb. 24 when he, like millions of others in Ukraine, was blasted awake.
“It was 5 a.m. when I was woken up by all that insanity that broke out,” the former “Dancing With the Stars” pro champion told the Daily News.
He was briefly detained, an eye-opener.
“They searched my documents, and I realized what it is to be in the middle of war,” Chmerkovskiy said, explaining that peacetime interactions he’d had with military personnel before that were a world apart. “I’ve never seen a soldier in the time of war. It’s a really different type of feeling.”
Once he had documented he was a U.S. citizen, Chmerkovskiy was able to leave, chronicling his traumatizing journey on social media. In the ensuing six months, the professional dancer, who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and today lives with wife and fellow “DWTS” alum Peta Murgatroyd and their young son in Los Angeles, has devoted himself to helping Ukrainians cope.
“I’m unable to sit on the sidelines,” he told The News, describing his inspiration for forming Baranova 27, a charitable organization named after the address he spent his early childhood in Odesa, Ukraine. The group’s goal is “to do our best for people suffering from this craziness that is going on over there,” Chmerkovskiy said.
Earlier this year, Chmerkovskiy described being torn as he left the country he was born in, especially being on a train to Warsaw surrounded by women and children.
He met Roostaei after the artist saw him on the news detailing his escape from Ukraine and arrival in Los Angeles. The Iranian artist, himself no stranger to conflict, is donating proceeds from his powerful painting evoking life in wartime Ukraine to Baranova 27. That will enable it to collect even more donations of clothes, medical supplies and hygienic equipment for refugees.
Roostaei is known for creating an original technique he calls Cryptorealism, layering levels of images, meaning on top of meaning, using only his fingers in deeply detailed works in oil and acrylic. He has spent more than 40 years honing the style since starting out in the 1970s.
Back then, Roostaei’s burgeoning career was upended by the Iranian revolution, and his art was deemed subversive enough to get him locked up for two years. After getting out of jail, he went to Germany to seek asylum and began working as an artist in 1984, eventually moving to the U.S.
The war in Ukraine affected Roostaei deeply. “My personal experiences with war and political conflict give me a particular lens with which to evoke a dialogue between my art and its observers,” Roostaei told The News in an email.
He hopes his art — in particular the painting, “Imagine-2022,″ whose proceeds he donated — can “shed light on the human experience of war so that others may have a better understanding of its effects and perhaps be inspired to do their part in rallying for peace: both in Ukraine and worldwide. I truly believe that it is our shared humanity that will allow us to achieve this,” he said, expressing gratitude for the opportunity to help Ukrainians directly.
Chmerkovskiy plans to focus on children and restoring their lives to normalcy. “For me it’s important that people get involved in helping kids,” he told The News. “I just want to lend my hand in rebuilding a little bit and with contributing what I can.”
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