Small Worlds, massive passions – the Artists and Collectors Alley at Pyrkon

14 June 2026

Highlight: Painting and Graphic Art

The Artists and Collectors Alley is not only about display cases, models, and collectible gems, even if these are usually the things we focus on the most. This year, a special place in the Alley will also be given to the Painting and Graphic Art section, prepared in cooperation with Fine Art Prints. It’s a space for those who like to experience fantasy not only through objects, but also through worlds enclosed in images – full of symbols, atmosphere, hidden stories, and details your eyes want to return to.

In this part of the Alley, you will find works by artists who use very different means to do something quite similar: open doors to places existing somewhere on the border of imagination, myth, history, and dream. Sometimes it will be a fairytale, sometimes an alternate reality, sometimes a story about heroes who are only just beginning their journey, and sometimes a world so evocative that a single glance is enough to feel its mood.

Roch Urbaniak – an artist of stories

One of the highlights of the Painting and Graphic Art section will be Roch Urbaniak – a painter, illustrator, author of books, and creator of short comic forms, who can very safely be called an artist of stories. And that is not an exaggeration, because his works rarely stop at the image itself. Instead, they invite you further: into a world where every hero, every journey, and every strange creature seems to have its own legend hidden behind it.

In Urbaniak’s work, you can feel a fascination with fantasy, myths, fairytales, folklore, and pop culture, but also a great tenderness for the very act of storytelling. His images often feel like frames taken from a much larger tale. One whose beginning we may not know, but whose continuation we very quickly want to discover. It is art full of adventure, distinctive characters, unusual places, and exactly the kind of fantastic energy that fits Pyrkon perfectly.

That is why Roch Urbaniak’s presence in the Artists and Collectors Alley is more than just another point on the list of attractions. It is an invitation to step into a world where illustration, painting, and narrative work together. So if you enjoy artists who can suggest an entire journey, a long-forgotten legend, or the beginning of a story you would like to stay with for much longer – his works are definitely worth stopping by.

Jakub Różalski – history, folklore, and alternate worlds

The section prepared in cooperation with Fine Art Prints will also feature the works of Jakub Różalski, also known as Mr. Werewolf. He is an artist whose works are almost impossible to mistake for anyone else’s. Różalski creates worlds that are raw, melancholic, and instantly recognizable. Landscapes where everyday life meets something monumental, unsettling, and fantastic.

In his paintings, history, rural scenery, folklore, nature, and realism intertwine with elements of science fiction, dark fantasy, and alternate reality. This very combination gives birth to the distinctive atmosphere of his work: fields, forests, snow, animals, people captured in ordinary moments, and right next to them constructions and beings that completely change the meaning of the entire scene. Suddenly, what is familiar becomes strange. And what is fantastic looks surprisingly believable.

It is art that works so strongly precisely because it does not shout. Instead, it builds tension through silence, space, and contrast. One moment, you are looking at a landscape that could truly exist, and a moment later you realize that this world follows completely different rules. For fans of alternate history, Slavic motifs, giant machines, darker fantasy, and images filled with unsaid stories, Różalski’s work will be one of the strongest points of this part of the Alley.

The Painting and Graphic Art section will therefore show fantasy from the perspective of the image – not as an addition to a story, but as its fully fledged beginning. And thanks to the cooperation with Fine Art Prints, it will also be a chance to see the works of artists whose visions have long since made their way out into the wider world.

Fantasy you can view from every angle imaginable

Pyrkon isn’t just about lectures, meetups, concerts, and program events you run to with your app in hand and a slight panic in your eyes. It’s also those moments when you stumble upon a place full of small worlds, massive passions, and exhibits that make you forget you were supposed to be somewhere else five minutes ago.

The Artists and Collectors Alley is exactly that kind of place. Here, pop culture doesn’t end on a screen, a board, a page, or a comic book panel. Here, it takes the form of graphics, action figures, models, statues, props, dioramas, and collections that took hours of searching, tinkering, assembling, painting, hunting for gems, and perfecting the details.

And there will definitely be no shortage of details to admire this year.

Artifacts of Our Culture

To start on a high note – Figurkowcy and their exhibition “Artifacts of Our Culture”. Sounds serious? And rightfully so, because for many of us, action figures, statues, replicas, or collectible knick-knacks are more than just things sitting on a shelf, gathering dust.

They are little time capsules, filled with fond memories. Heroes of movies, comics, games, and TV shows who have accompanied us for years. Characters that make you remember a specific scene, quote, fight, boss battle, or an evening spent in front of the screen. Figurkowcy will showcase pop culture as a collection of objects that can trigger nostalgia faster than the first notes of your favorite childhood opening theme.

A world where details come to life

Speaking of details, we cannot skip the exhibition by Figurkowi Pasjonaci 1/6 plus – “World where details come to life!”. The name basically says it all, but let’s elaborate: it’s the kind of exhibition where you suddenly start analyzing the texture of the fabric, the character’s gaze, the positioning of their hands, their weapons, armor, boots, seams, creases, and all the other elements that might normally go unnoticed.

On a larger scale, figurines can make a huge impression because they allow you to see characters in a different way than you would on screen. They become more tangible. More concrete. As if someone took a hero from a movie, game, or comic book and placed them right in front of you, in a version that isn’t currently trying to save the world, destroy it, or make a dramatic slow-motion entrance.

Though let’s be real – some of them probably look like that’s exactly what they’re planning anyway.

The magic of model-making

Hangar z potworami / Monsters Hangar will also have its place in the Alley with their “The magic of model-making” exhibition. And it’s a very fitting title, because model-making has a bit of reality-bending to it. From a few parts, paints, tools, patience, and imagination, a thing is created that looks like a fragment of a larger universe.

Here, it’s not just the final result that matters, but also the process. Assembling, tweaking, painting, weathering, modding, figuring out how to make the model more than just a replica… A story. Sometimes it’s a machine, sometimes a monster, sometimes a vehicle, and sometimes something that looks like it just returned from a very dangerous space mission.

It’s an exhibition for those who like to look at fantasy and sci-fi from the workshop’s perspective. Literally and figuratively.

From a star forge straight to Pyrkon

The lineup will also feature Doc’s Star Forge Expo. And if the name suggests cosmic vibes, props, fan passion, and things that look like they belong in a hangar far, far away… You’re on the right track.

This will be a great pit stop for people who enjoy not only watching fantastic universes, but also admiring their material side. Costumes, set pieces, replicas, objects that instantly evoke associations with your favorite worlds – such exhibitions have one fundamental flaw: you come to just take a glimpse and then end up examining everything piece by piece.

Giant robots, giant passion

There will also be something there for all the mech fans. PoZeon Base is preparing an Asian giant mecha exhibition, where lovers of futuristic armor, combat machines, and precision modeling should feel like they’re in a base, preparing for their next mission.

Giant robot models have a very specific charm. On one hand, they are pure fantasies about steel giants, cosmic conflicts, and larger-than-life duels. On the other hand, they represent an incredibly precise hobby where every panel, line, color, and pose can change how the whole piece is perceived.

So if the word “mech” warms your heart, PoZeon Base should definitely be on your agenda.

Cosmic collections and technical imagination

On the list of exhibitions, you’ll also find the Mavis Ordos Collection. It’s a collection that perfectly fits the part of the Alley where sci-fi meets design, models, starships, and technical imagination.

Because there are things that look like pieces taken straight from another world’s documentation. Schematics, structures, cosmic designs, visions of vehicles and objects that immediately trigger questions in your head: Who flies this, where to, and in what universe? And could I accidentally adapt this into my own RPG campaign?

It’s a great spot for people who enjoy the side of sci-fi where design isn’t just decoration, but the beginning of a story.

Concrete, rust, and radiation

And finally, something that with its title alone sets the mood faster than many movie trailers do: Maślana Mucha – “Zone: Concrete // Rust // Radiation”.

Sounds like a place you’d enter with a flashlight, a Geiger counter, and a very bad life decision in your pocket. Concrete, rust, and radiation evoke associations with post-industrial ruins, abandoned zones, a post-apocalyptic world, as well as that specific kind of beauty that emerges where civilization has crumbled a bit, but the atmosphere is dialed up to the max.

It’s one of those exhibitions where the title itself promises a specific mood. Raw, rusty, slightly unsettling, and absolutely fantastic.

Drop by, slow down, get drawn in

The Artists and Collectors Alley is a place best explored without rushing through it. It’s not about just checking off another booth. It’s about stepping closer, seeing the details, talking to the creators and collectors, asking about the process, inspirations, favorite models, or the most absurd story related to acquiring a specific exhibit.

Because behind every collection, exhibition, and artwork, there is someone who poured their time, attention, and a whole lot of heart into it. And Pyrkon has always been a place where such passions can shine.

That’s why if you like painting, graphic art, figurines, models, pop culture artifacts, giant robots, cosmic structures, post-apoc vibes, or simply things created out of passion – be sure to add the Artists and Collectors Alley to your Pyrkon itinerary!