Jože Volarič

(1.1.1932, Banova Jaruga- 27.9.2012, Kokrica pri Kranju)

Jože Volarič was a Slovenian sculptor, master locksmith, technician, mechanical engineer and professor of industrial pedagogy, who spread the new steel welding technique to our region. After World War II, he enrolled in the Mining Industrial School in Lendava in 1947.

There his professional career began, marked by continuous education in the technical field. He worked in industry and education in Lendava and then in Kranj, where he moved with his family in 1965. Until his retirement in 1990, he worked in an educational context, and throughout his career he also created in Kokrica near Kranju. Like Jože, his wife Zlata was also one of the more prominent figures of Slovenian sculpture. They are considered representatives of Slovenian self-made sculptors and painters who managed to capture technical precision, creative spontaneity and simplicity of experience in their images.

Since the mid-1970s, Jože, together with Zlata, has presented his works at numerous solo and group exhibitions at home and abroad. Art represented for him life satisfaction and a path to freedom, which is why his work reflects the joy of life, warmth and memories from childhood. Volarič designed steel using the electric arc welding technique. He created more than two thousand sculptures from iron, from small figures to monumental installations, including the famous mammoth in the roundabout in Kokrica.

In 1992, he designed the so-called Garden of Sculptures next to his home with more than forty large works, several of which now stand in the memorial park in Kokrica. His figures often create narrative scenes. In his sculptures, he was able to convincingly combine the hardness of metal with a sense of warmth and humor, which was characteristic of most artists of the Samorastnik group. He was also a prolific literary creator – he published several collections of aphorisms, haiku, sonnets, children's poems and essays.

For many years he was the president of the Haiku Society of Slovenia and the Plamen Section of Artistic Welders, Blacksmiths and Foundries at the Ljubljana Welding Technology Society. Jože and Zlata Volarič left a significant mark on the Slovenian landscape with their work.

Jože Volarič je bil slovenski kipar, ključavničarski mojster, tehnik, inženir strojništva ter profesor industrijske pedagogike, ki je v naš prostor razširil novo tehniko varjenja jekla. Po drugi svetovni vojni se je leta 1947 vpisal na rudarsko industrijsko šolo v Lendavi.

Tam se je začela njegova poklicna pot, ki jo je zaznamovalo nenehno izobraževanje na tehničnem področju. Delal je v industriji in šolstvu v Lendavi in nato še v Kranju, kamor se je z družino preselil leta 1965. Do upokojitve leta 1990 je deloval v izobraževalnem okviru, ves čas službovanja pa je tudi ustvarjal na Kokrici pri Kranju. Tako kot Jože, je bila tudi njegova žena Zlata ena izmed vidnejših osebnosti slovenskega kiparstva. Uvrščamo ju med predstavnike slovenskih samorastniških kiparjev in slikarjev, ki so v svoje podobe uspeli ujeti tehnično natančnost, ustvarjalno spontanost in preprostost izkustva.

Od sredine sedemdesetih let je Jože skupaj z Zlato svoja dela predstavil na številnih samostojnih in skupinskih razstavah doma in v tujini. Umetnost je zanj predstavljala življenjsko zadovoljstvo in pot v svobodo, zato je v njegovem opusu mogoče opaziti veselje do življenja, toplino in spomine iz otroštva. Volarič je oblikoval v tehniki električnega obločnega varjenja jekla. Iz železa je ustvaril več kot dva tisoč skulptur, od manjših figur do monumentalnih postavitev, med njimi tudi znamenitega mamuta v krožišču na Kokrici.

Leta 1992 je ob svojem domu zasnoval tako imenovani Vrt skulptur z več kot štiridesetimi velikimi deli, od katerih jih danes več stoji v spominskem parku na Kokrici. Njegove figure pogosto ustvarjajo pripovedne prizore. V kipih je znal prepričljivo združiti trdoto kovine z občutkom za toplino in humor, kar je bilo značilno za večino umetnikov samorastniške skupine. Bil je tudi plodovit literarni ustvarjalec – izdal je več zbirk aforizmov, haikujev, sonetov, otroških pesmi in esejev.

Dolga leta je bil predsednik Haiku društva Slovenije in Sekcije umetnostnih varilcev, kovačev in livarjev Plamen pri Društvu za varilno tehniko Ljubljana. Jože in Zlata Volarič sta s svojim delom pustila pomemben pečat v slovenskem prostoru.

All the artists on the Porta Alpina website can be found at this link.

The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history
Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.

SOURCES/VIRI:
Jana BEŠTER, s. v. Volarič, Jože (1932-2012), Obrazi slovenskih pokrajin, 2020, https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/oseba/volaric-joze/ (1.10.2025).
Odprtje spominske razstave Jože in Zlata Volarič, Gorenjski muzej, https://www.gorenjski-muzej.si/odprtje-spominske-razstave-joze-in-zlata-volaric/ (1.11.2025).
Petra VENCELJ, Volaričev park, https://www.visitkranj.com/znamenitosti/volaricev-park/ (16.9.2025).