(Bistrica ob Sotli, 3.11.1953-)
Franci Černelč is an exceptionally talented Slovenian artist who, with his steely will and hard work, achieves excellent results in the fields of music and visual arts. He occasionally leads and organises cultural events, with which he cultivates Slovenian tradition among young people. He mostly sculpts in stone and wood, composes music and writes poetry. He also dabbled in painting, but abandoned it in his later years.
In his youth, Černelč was not allowed to study at an academy due to financial hardship, but instead trained as a glassmaker. After completing his military service, he enrolled in music education at the Pedagogical Academy in Maribor. He developed his artistic and craft skills on his own. He began developing them at a young age, when he worked with clay, drawing and wood carving. After graduating from the academy in Maribor, he worked for a long time at the Dekor glass factory in Kozje, which was part of the Rogaška glassworks. He led the creative department and looked for new expressive possibilities in the material. He created quite a few masterpieces in glass, including Slomšek's mass chalice and a crystal globe for the Russian and American presidents.
He is a highly respected glassmaker among all his colleagues, as he is skilled in shaping human anatomy. In this demanding medium, he was also able to capture the diverse expressiveness of figures. Creating complex compositions within a glass block did not represent a big enough challenge for him, so in these he also presented the idea of being trapped in a solid mass, which is inevitable in the real world. In new creations, he always tried to follow and adapt to new changes in the environment. This was his motto, which he also transferred to other artistic media. In the late phase of his creative work, he was most intensely involved in sculpture. He has already transferred several motifs that he tackled when working with glass into it. His sculptural works can be admired at Forma Viva in Makole and in several Slovenian villages between Sežana and Slovenska Bistrica. Some of them are also kept by private collectors. Černelc has developed an exceptional sense of detail.
His figures are made with a great deal of respect and indicate the artist's relationship with the local population. They are characterized by softness and sensuality, which he achieves by smoothing the rough stone surface. In his composition, he seeks a balance between the living and the inanimate, and nature and civilisation. Before he begins work, he makes a thorough sketch in his head and then, using the principle of automatism, creates a new image. The final result of his monumental designs is greatly influenced by the artist's contact with the local population. Thus, his sculptures are meant to be a part of everyone, making them an extremely important link between the locals and their space. Figures appear most often in his set of motifs. There are also some abstractions. In 2003, he devoted himself primarily to poetry and published a poetry collection, Muzikant. In it, he collected all the best works he created throughout his life. He also illustrated it. In the field of music, he is known as a founding member of the Nojek music group and as the leader of the Orlica brass band. He is an extremely active creator, participating in both musical and artistic associations. In 2005, he founded the Slovenian Glassmakers Association, in which he supports the art of glass design.
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Franci Černelč je izjemno nadarjen slovenski ustvarjalec, ki z jekleno voljo in trdim delom dosega odlične rezultate na področju glasbe in vizualne umetnosti. Občasno vodi in prireja kulturne dogodke, s katerimi med mladimi goji slovensko tradicijo. Največkrat kipari v kamnu in lesu ter sklada glasbo in piše poezijo. Ukvarjal se je tudi s slikarstvom a ga je v poznem obdobju opustil.
V mladosti Černelču zaradi finančne stiske niso omogočili študija na akademiji ampak se je izučil za steklarja. Po odsluženem vojaškem roku se je vpisal na glasbeno vzgojo na pedagoški akademiji v Mariboru. Umetniške in obrtne spretnosti je izoblikoval kar sam. Razvijati jih je pričel že v mladih letih, ko se je ukvarjal z glino, risanjem in rezljanjem v les. Po končani akademiji v Mariboru je kar dolgo časa delal v steklarskem obratu Dekor v Kozjem, ki je sodil pod steklarstvo Rogaška. Vodil je kreativni oddelek in v materialu iskal nove izrazne možnosti.
Izdelal je kar nekaj mojstrovin v steklu med katere sodi Slomškov mašni kelih in kristalni globus za ruskega in ameriškega predsednika. Med vsemi kolegi je zelo cenjen steklar, saj je spreten v oblikovanju človeške anatomije. V tem zahtevnem mediju je znal ujeti tudi raznoliko izraznost figur. Izdelava kompleksnih kompozicij znotraj steklenega bloka zanj ni predstavljala dovolj velikega izziva, zato je v teh predstavil še idejo ujetosti v trdno gmoto, ki je v realnem svetu neizbežna. Pri novih kreacijah je vselej skušal slediti in se prilagoditi novim spremembam v okolici. To je bil njegov moto, ki ga je prenesel tudi v druge umetnostne medije. V pozni fazi ustvarjanja se najbolj intenzivno ukvarja s kiparstvom. Vanj je prenesel že nekaj motivov, ki se jih je lotil pri obdelavi stekla.
Njegova kiparska dela lahko občudujemo na Forma vivi v Makolah in v več slovenskih vaseh med Sežano in Slovensko Bistrico. Nekaj jih hranijo tudi zasebni zbiralci. Černelc je razvil izjemen občutek za obdelavo detajlov. Njegove figure so izdelane z veliko mero spoštovanja in kažejo na odnos umetnika z lokalnim prebivalstvom. V njih izstopata mehkoba in čutnost, ki ju doseže z glajenjem grobe kamnite površine. V kompoziciji išče ravnovesje med živim in neživim ter naravo in civilizacijo. Preden prične z delom si v glavi izdela temeljito skico nato pa po principu avtomatizma izoblikuje novo podobo. H končnemu rezultatu monumentalnih zasnov močno vpliva umetnikov stik z lokalnim prebivalstvom. Tako naj bi bile njegove skulpture del vsakega, s čimer postanejo izjemno pomemben vezni člen med domačini in njihovim prostorom. V njegovem naboru motivov se največkrat pojavijo figure. Nekaj je tudi abstrakcij. Leta 2003 se je posvetil predvsem poeziji in izdal pesniško zbirko Muzikant. V njej je zbral vsa najboljša dela, ki jih je ustvaril skozi vse življenje. To je tudi ilustriral. Na področju glasbe ga poznamo kot ustanovnega člana glasbene skupine Nojek in kot vodjo pihalne godbe Orlica. Je izjemno aktiven ustvarjalec, ki sodeluje tako v glasbenih in umetnostnih združenjih. Leta 2005 je ustanovil Društvo steklarjev Slovenije, v katerem podpira umetnost oblikovanja stekla.
Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.
The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history
SOURCES/VIRI:
Marija HRVATIN, Franci Černelč: Znamenja tega časa bodo ostala, Posavski obzornik, 10.3.2021, https://www.posavskiobzornik.si/kultura/franci-cernelc-znamenja-tega-casa-bodo-ostala-92755 (13.8.2024).
Goran ROVAN, Franci Černelč je kipar, glasbenik, pesnik…, MMC RTV SLO, 24.12.2015, https://www.rtvslo.si/lokalne-novice/franci-cernelc-je-kipar-glasbenik-pesnik/381846 (25.8.2024).
Darko SLAVEC, Franci Černelč: Friderik in Veronika, http://www.drustvosteklarjev.si/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/FRANCI-%C4%8CERNELC-Friderik-in-Veronika.pdf (23.8.2024).
Jože STRNIŠA, Skulpture ustvarja v različnih krajih: kipar Franci Černelč, Rogaške novice, 3.11.2017, p. 21.
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