Jacek Yerka, BODYDUCK, 2023

49,0 x 59,0cm - pastel, paper pasted on cardboard signed p.d.: YERKA 23

This was supposed to be a very biblical project by design; the Middle East, Lake Gennesaret (or, if you prefer, the Sea of Galilee), so an atmosphere mystical and rich in history.

My train of thought was disturbed, still vague images and first sketches, by a pair of mallard ducks living in a nearby pond; we named them Kacperek and Melancia (that's from J.A. Grabowski's book, "Puck, Amber and Guests"). Of course, they tried to extort something edible, Melancia held back, and Kacperek loudly and categorically demanded redemption. It came to hand-to-hand, Kacperek got angry and pinched us a bit; well, and he became a Bodyduck. Probably from then on he grew in Melancia's eyes and looked like on my almost biblical work.

Jacek Yerka

Jacek Yerka (Toruń 1952, lives near Toruń) graduated in 1976 from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. 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. Drawing on a precise pictorial technique based 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.