Surrealist painter: Who is Jacek Yerka?

Yerka, whose parents graduated from the art academy, takes a pencil and paints his dream world instead of playing outside as a child. This fantasy world creates problems in the early years of his school life, which he says was “gray, sometimes terribly realistic.”

Jacek Yerka (born Jacek Kowalski in 1952) is a Polish surrealist painter from Toruń. Yerka's work has been exhibited in Poland, Germany, Monaco, France, and the United States, and may be found in the museums of Poland.

It is confusing because it appeared at the same time as magical realism and surrealism. Magical realism uses elements of realism brought to the imaginary atmosphere. Unreal events and phenomena are told in an indifferent manner without drawing attention to their unreality. Surrealism, on the other hand, aims to create a reality of its own by cutting the connection with the known reality, which reflects the subconscious realities that are far from the control of the mind, traditions, and habits.

Yerka received the World Fantasy Award in 1995, in the category of best artist. His works are exhibited in Poland, Germany, France, and America.

The artist explains how he started to prepare his works on his website: First, he makes sketches in a notebook with a pencil. If he finds his work worthy of improvement, this time he transfers it to a higher quality paper makes coloring, and adds details. After this stage, he presents his work to his wife and 4 daughters and gets their ideas. According to his comments, the artist either removes the work from its archives or continues.

His grandmother had a great place in Jacek Yerka's life. He always had his grandmother in his childhood memories. You can see this in his work as well. Those with a kitchen, for example, used to be their grandmother's kitchen.

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https://www.yerkaland.com/language/en/