Jacek Yerka - Dreaming Surrealism

website: Born in Poland in 1952, JACEK YERKA studied fine art and graphics prior to becoming a full-time artist in 1980. While at university, Yerka resisted the constant pressures of his instructors to adopt the less detailed, less realistic techniques that characterize so much of contemporary art. Instead, he stubbornly continued to work in the classic, meticulous Flemish style he still favors to this day. The pastoral atmosphere of the Polish countryside provides a solid, mimetic foundation for much of Yerka’s art. However, it is his own uniquely evocative dreams that limn the complex, often arcane imagery of his work. One need only glance at the luminous surfaces of Yerka’s canvases to perceive his adoration of, resonance with, the master painters of the 15th and 16th centuries, key factors in the development of this surrealist Cagliostro. Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, Hugo van der Goes and Jan van Eyck