Mysterious worlds in the paintings of the Polish neo-surrealist, which conquer fantasies with a flight

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the works of a Polish artist known to a wide range of viewers under a creative pseudonym - Jacek Yerki - literally everything amazes and impresses: the flight of fantasy beyond the limits of imagination, and compositional construction that does not lend itself to common sense, and fascinating narrative content, as well as amazing childish spontaneity. On the pages of our magazine, a lot has already been said about the unique work of this master, so today we will talk about him. After all, the formation of an artist in the world of art is no less interesting than the works they create.

Polish neo-surrealist illustrator Jacek Kowalski, who has been working under the pseudonym Jacek Yerka for many years, truly has an unusual and distinctive talent. His unique paintings have long acquired their admirers all over the world. Bright, elaborately thought out, scrupulously written, to some extent reminiscent of the works of famous surrealists of the past, they are evidence of the artist's unusual gift, which is not inferior in strength to the great masters.

Turning the pages of a biography

Jacek Kowalski (Jacek Jerka) was born in 1952 in Northern Poland (the city of Torun) into a family of students of the local Academy of Fine Arts. Thus, he came into the world already condemned to follow in the footsteps of his parents. The future artist grew up surrounded by the medieval architecture of his native town of Torun, which miraculously survived the bombings during the Second World War. The ancient architecture and the surroundings of the city were not only the background on which the future artist grew up - all this taken entirely and had a huge impact on the theme of his works and formed the fine artistic taste of the master.

What Jacek remembered most from his early childhood was the smell of paints, ink, paper, rubber and brushes, as mother and father were constantly in the creative process. However, the surroundings of their house and grandmother's kitchen, where young Jacek spent a lot of time, had a much more significant impact on his work in the future than the parents' attempts to involve the baby in serious pursuits. It should also be noted that the boy considered his paternal grandmother, Wanda, to be the most important person in his life. With her, he experienced his best childhood moments. She gave her grandson all her soul and was his guardian angel, and the first admirer of talent.

As a child, Jacek was not at all like other children:

Nevertheless, his hobby for drawing did not at all imply that Jacek would like to become an artist for 100% in the future, like his parents. Oddly enough, he was irresistibly attracted by astronomy and, in part, medicine. However, a year before graduation from school, the teenager first decided to change the pencil and took up paints. And one has only to guess what his feeling of surprise, delight and joy was when he discovered the mysterious world of color. Of course, this discovery finally convinced him of the decision to devote himself to art.

- this is how the Polish illustrator recalls his first steps towards his own "I" in art.

Jacek also had to defend his vision of the world during his student years while studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University (Torun), where he studied graphics with a specialization in printmaking. Teachers, at first, tried to instill in Jacek skills in a more modern abstract, and less detailed manner. But the future artist decided that he should not change himself and stubbornly continued to develop his own style. Soon the teachers, like the parents, abandoned their attempts to change something in the unusually talented student, and he was completely free in his thinking and creativity.

Coming off the walls of the university as a certified graphic artist in 1980, Jacek Jerka began his creative career. In the same year, the young artist began to collaborate with several galleries in Warsaw, as well as to carry out work to order. The young artist signed his first paintings with the initial letter of his surname - "K". A few years after graduation, Jacek takes on the pseudonym "Yerka" - this is how all his creations are now signed.

The artist's career has developed rapidly, his illustrations have appeared in various publications around the world. The master's paintings also gained wide popularity.

Jacek devotes all his time to paintings and illustrations, the style of which he chose in his student years, remaining true to himself to this day. His personal exhibitions are regularly exhibited in Europe and the United States, and are also in private collections of collectors around the world. In 1995, the artist received the prestigious World Fantasy Award as the best artist.

The main theme of the artist's works

The surrealist artist comes up with and creates exciting fantasy worlds, with labyrinths and puzzles, where everything is simple and easy, but at the same time very difficult. His paintings are like journeys to the land of the subconscious.

Defining the artistic style of Jacek Yerki, experts argue that it is more related to realistic surrealism, which is subtly intertwined with the fantasy style. However, it is rather difficult to attribute his work to either one or the other direction, there is something individual in him, incomprehensible to nothing like anything.

The basis for many of the master's works are pastoral landscapes, medieval architecture of Northern Poland and domestic interiors of the 50-60s.

In the course of a long career, Jacek developed an author's style and manner that conquered even discerning spectators: beauty and abundance of details, technique of the 50s of the twentieth century, animals, natural landscapes, architecture and home interiors … And the artist skillfully puts all this into a unique three-dimensional picture, of course, with a cunning author's riddle.

Those who have visited Yerki's hometown at least once can easily see familiar architectural structures in his paintings. In his works, the artist did not seek to depict buildings exactly as they really are. He did not pay attention to small details, because they could disrupt the general impression of the unreality of the image.

If you look at the natural landscapes, then you can also find an attachment to the native land. Among the numerous trees, bushes, you can always find vegetation that is characteristic of the nature of Northern Poland.

World fame came to Jacek Yerke in 1994, when the American science fiction writer Harlan Ellison, inspired by his paintings, was so impressed by the works of the Polish surrealist that he specially wrote thirteen new short stories for Mind Fields. The book was published in 1994. Each story refers to one of the thirty paintings by Jacek Yerka included in Mind Fields.

A truly amazing artist whose work hardly left anyone indifferent.

Continuing the topic of contemporary surrealism, read: The magical and humorous world in the paintings of the "Dutch surrealist" from Russia: Why Valery Bagaev is compared to Bruegel.