Jacek Yerka, PRADOLINA, 2023

70,0 x 81,0 cm - acrylic, canvas signature p.d.: YERKA 23
signed on the back on the loom l.d.: JACEK YERKA >>PRADOLINA<< | ACRYL 2023

I named the place to which I long. It is just around the bend, around the corner, behind the nearest hill. An oasis of peace and quiet, a valley in the woods or a park, bounded by a railroad embankment, townhouses or the natural elevation of the land. It is quiet there, the wind does not blow, time does not flow. The valley in the painting can be wandered endlessly and never feel tired.

I have hit such places several times in my life.

Now I also take a regular route by car past one of the few such pre-valleys left: a rachitic pine forest, located in a deep basin, between a high railroad embankment and a local, uneven and winding road - nothing extraordinary or noteworthy - just a random depression of terrain. Every time, however, passing through, I wish I could stop there, settle down and stay in my pre-valley forever.

Jacek Yerka

Jacek Yerka (Toruń 1952, lives near Toruń) graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń in 1976. He specialized in graphic arts. In the first years after graduation, he exhibited posters, including at the Biennale of Polish Poster in Katowice in 1977 and 1979, international biennials in Lahti and Warsaw, and others. Since 1980 he has devoted himself entirely to painting. Relying on a precise pictorial technique modeled on the old masters (Jan van Eyck, Hieronymus Bosch), but above all on his own boundless imagination, he creates surreal compositions, especially admired by lovers of fantasy in all varieties. He inspired, for example, fantasy author Harlan Ellison to write 30 short stories, which, along with Yerka's paintings, made up the publication titled. "Mind Fields." The same American publishing house "Morpheus International" published the album "The Fantastic Art of Jacek Yerka". In 1995 the artist was awarded the prestigious World Fantasy Award for best artist. He exhibits at home and abroad (in Germany, France, the USA and others), being a respected representative of the fantastic art trend. He collaborated in the production of the American film "Strawberry Fields", where the images were to be accompanied by Beatles music.