Jacek Yerka, “Eruption”, 1990, Acrylic on Canvas, 65 x 73 cm, Private Collection
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.
His paintings are acrylic on canvas and carefully rendered, using images from his childhood, including his grandmother’s kitchen. He also includes odd beasts and whimsical landscapes. He comments, “For me, the 1950s were a kind of Golden Age … If I were, for instance, to paint a computer, it would definitely have a pre-war aesthetic to it.”