Jacek Yerka, THE KING AND THE FRIENDS, 2023

49,0 x 59,0 cm - pastel, paper pasted on cardboard 49 x 59 cm (light passe-partout)

signature p.d.: YERKA 23



Quite accidentally and unintentionally I started to breed miniature rabbits. There were several reasons - rabbits are quiet, clean and at times very playful; ideal roommates in the studio. Of course, in the beginning there were disagreements, as there are in a shared apartment, but after chewing through all the cables within reach of their teeth, turning several frames and stretchers into a neat pile of sawdust, we somehow got along.



The rabbit Misha was second in command and had to submit to the white, smaller by half, but definitely protective and dominant rabbit Bibi.

Unfortunately, he was a terrible panic-striker; we included in the family legends his racing with the bulldog Tysia around the chimney (fortunately, Misha won) and the rapid retreat at the sight of a big, black, festive sturgeon.

An accident in the enclosure - a panicked escape from something and impaling himself on a twig - ended his rabbit life.

I wanted to memorialize him somehow, so I placed him in our former backyard, in a barn that no longer exists, among the former animals and household items we remember.

May they rest in peace.

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 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.