Yuri Zhurka (Юрій Журка, born 1965) – A Ukrainian Artist of Rural Memory and Traditional Landscapes
Yuri Zhurka was born on September 24, 1965, in the town of Krolevets, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. From a young age, he displayed a talent for art and later studied at the Kharkiv Art School, where he was mentored by painter Borys Peleshchuk. After completing his military service and working for a time in Crimea, he returned to his homeland in 1991 and began a lifelong artistic career deeply connected to the region.
Zhurka is a distinctive artist known for his depictions of landscapes and rural life, focusing on the Slobozhanshchyna region - an area steeped in Ukrainian folklore and tradition. His paintings often portray snow-covered fields, low thatched cottages, village wells, orchards, flocks of geese, peasant girls in traditional dress, and Cossack hunting scenes. The world in his paintings is poetic, serene, and nostalgic - an attempt to capture a Ukraine slowly fading with time.
Some of his notable works include Sich, Lunch in the Field, White Linen Drying, The Hunt, and The Church in Hlukhiv. One particularly striking piece is The Pond (Ставок), painted in 1998 - a tranquil etude showing a still body of water reflecting the autumn light and trees, evoking a quiet and contemplative mood.
Beyond his painting, Yuri Zhurka has also contributed to the restoration and decoration of religious structures in his region. He helped restore the Church of the Resurrection in the village of Kosharivka and participated in the beautification of several other local churches. He has also worked closely with private collectors to preserve traditional cultural heritage.
Although not internationally renowned, Yuri Zhurka is recognized as a deeply soulful painter, committed to themes of homeland and national memory. His paintings are gentle and unpretentious, yet rich in emotion and poetic silence - a quiet but powerful artistic voice of rural Ukraine.
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Yuri Zhurka was born on September 24, 1965, in the town of Krolevets, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. From a young age, he displayed a talent for art and later studied at the Kharkiv Art School, where he was mentored by painter Borys Peleshchuk. After completing his military service and working for a time in Crimea, he returned to his homeland in 1991 and began a lifelong artistic career deeply connected to the region.
Zhurka is a distinctive artist known for his depictions of landscapes and rural life, focusing on the Slobozhanshchyna region - an area steeped in Ukrainian folklore and tradition. His paintings often portray snow-covered fields, low thatched cottages, village wells, orchards, flocks of geese, peasant girls in traditional dress, and Cossack hunting scenes. The world in his paintings is poetic, serene, and nostalgic - an attempt to capture a Ukraine slowly fading with time.
Some of his notable works include Sich, Lunch in the Field, White Linen Drying, The Hunt, and The Church in Hlukhiv. One particularly striking piece is The Pond (Ставок), painted in 1998 - a tranquil etude showing a still body of water reflecting the autumn light and trees, evoking a quiet and contemplative mood.
Beyond his painting, Yuri Zhurka has also contributed to the restoration and decoration of religious structures in his region. He helped restore the Church of the Resurrection in the village of Kosharivka and participated in the beautification of several other local churches. He has also worked closely with private collectors to preserve traditional cultural heritage.
Although not internationally renowned, Yuri Zhurka is recognized as a deeply soulful painter, committed to themes of homeland and national memory. His paintings are gentle and unpretentious, yet rich in emotion and poetic silence - a quiet but powerful artistic voice of rural Ukraine.
See more here
