Eric Yahnker

Eric Yahnker (b.1976, Torrance, CA) studied journalism at the University of Southern California before transferring to CalArts’ famed Character Animation Program. Upon graduating, he worked on projects including South Park, MADtv, and Seinfeld, as well as a host of hand-drawn animated commercials. From 2007 onward, he shifted focus to his personal work, which has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. Describing his work as “long-form, visual, comedic poetry,” and “glorified political cartooning,” Yahnker continues to use his unique background to create installations anchored by wall-sized, photorealistic drawings utilizing charcoal, graphite and colored pencils. Leaning heavily on pop-culture imagery combined with cinematic, political and historic references in order to magnify broader social truths, he was recently described by The New York Times’ Ken Johnson as “an exceptionally imaginative satirist [who] is also an ambitious, prolific and technically impressive draftsman.” Yahnker has exhibited at Paradise Row (London), CES Gallery (Los Angeles), Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, (Grand Rapids, MI), Galerie Division (Montreal, QC), Marlborough Broome Street (New York), The Hole (New York), and ACME (Los Angeles). He is currently represented by Ambach & Rice in Los Angeles.