I'm missing something, how they are hacks? Surreal juxtapostions yes, but hacks...

I agree. The word 'hack', while we're on the subject of surreal paintings, would be more appropriate for some of Dali's works such as 'Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Meters becomes a Portrait of Abraham Lincoln' (yes, that's the full title). As the name of this work suggests, it is a painting of a woman looking at the sea which, when viewed from a sufficient distance, becomes Lincoln's portrait. http://www.authenticsociety.com/about/GalaMediterraneanLinco...

"Masters of Deception" covers this kind of stuff really well: http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Deception-Artists-Optical-Illu...

In particular the cover was done by Rob Gonsalves: http://www.discoverygalleries.com/ArtistGallery.asp?artist_i...

interestingly the same name was used by a hacker group in the 80s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Deception

These paintings are... amazing. I love this guy's style. I wish there were a game stylised like this (it's sort of like Braid, but somehow better). Thanks for this post.

it is strange that this link have made it to the front page of HN.

Yes, the word 'hacks' somehow has become appropriate.

Direct link to artist's site: http://www.yerkaland.com/

These paintings are definitely surreal but I was expecting something a little more Escher-like, like his Waterfall for example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_(M._C._Escher)

Awesome paintings this is truly some great art. But how in world did this get on the front page of HN, this is reddit material.