stone * wood * iron

Andrej GROSELJ returned to Prevalje after graduating at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, where he studied sculpture with professor Slavko Tihec. He began his professional career as an art teacher at the local primary school. Frequent public orders show that the artist has quickly found his public. The Forma viva sculpture - The look into Space - (iron) was already shaped in 1973. It stands in front of the Prevalje fire brigade station. After that other works of arts have followed. Let us mention just some of them: the statue of the National Liberation War at Sentanel (1977, wood), Primoz Trubar bust at Lasko (1979, bronze), Josip Broz Tito bust at Pec (1980, bronze), Janez Trdina (1981, stone) as well as others.

Public orders and his regular work with children have occupied a great part of his creative life. In spite of this he has dedicated his work to sculptures of smaller dimensions.

Groselj's opus can be roughly devided into two periods. The first one lasted through the seventies and finished somehow in the middle of the eighties. The second period has lasted till now. In his latest works we can observe the synthesis of his previous years research.

Groselj's creation in the seventies and at the begining of the eighties is marked by his work on public plastic arts. Throughout his work we can feel a certain duality between the modernistic realism and the interference with the coontemporary art problems. The first mentioned is especially reflected in public plastic arts with which the artist has been forced to adjust to the taste of those persons placing orders. On the other hand he has chosen sculptures of room dimensions to be able to confront with contemporary artistic streams.

His adjustment to research and searching for new solutions was already anticipated in his academic works. In that time a fresh wind blew through the Slovenian art space that among others brought the group OHO with. Of course Groselj couldn't remain indifferent to those phenomena, though he neither then nor later joined any of those movements.

Groselj works in different materials: iron, stone, clay, bronze and mostly wood, Through iron and stone Groselj has arrived to the material in which he has found himself and his art - namely wood. With its specific round shapes wood permits the sculpturer to achieve extra effects. With the statue of the National Liberation War at Sentanel the author for the first time presented a synthesis of his artistic path. Here he united his endeavours for realistic shaping with his original artistic solutions. There is a multi-storied colossus in front of us made of one piece of wood only. The edges are skimmed and stylizied faces grow out of them. On the surface there is a widespread framed geometric ornament. In its primary experience Constantin Brancusi's statue The Endless Tower Targu Jiu, Romania, is echoed here. Brancusi's influences can also be found later, specially with a large group of works, titled Seeds.

What was that Groselj has lead to wood could only be guessed. One of the possible answers lies doubtlessly in the rich Carinthian tradition of wood carving. We can hardly find great artistic names around here, but what is more important is the experiance permitted and conditioned by people and landscape.