Born in Riga (now Latvia) Russia, Yunkers traveled extensively trough Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, and Cuba early in his career. Relocating to New York in 1947, Yunkers quickly became active with the nascent Abstract Expressionist group. Central to his works of the period were an emphasis on negative space, collage and works in monochrome. Yunkers was also an active bookmaker and printmaker, founding the Rio Grande Workshop in New Mexico.

Yunkers tended to work in large-scale, drawing directly on the canvas and emphasizing the materiality of texture and color and exploring the uses of negative space in collaged compositions. Leaning heavily on his printmaking background his canvases became more object-like, collaged, and minimal.

 Yunkers was a member of the American Abstract Artists group and participated in numerous exhibitions throughout his career. His work has been featured in major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. Today, Yunkers is remembered as an important figure in the history of American printmaking and is considered one of the key artists of the American avant-garde