Andrej Grabrovec (pseudonym Gaberi), Slovenian artist, engineer, sculptor and photographer, born in 1959.
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Biography
He was born in 1959 in Maribor, where he lived a happy childhood on the bank of the Drava River and in his grandfather's carpentry workshop. He went to grammar school in Maribor and graduated from the Higher Technical School of Civil Engineering in 1985. He was hired as a designer by a design bureau. In collaboration with the design and research bureau at the Higher Technical School in Maribor and under the guidance of Prof. Borut Pečenko and engineer Vukašin Ačanski, he developed concepts, drawings and models of "forma vivo" in concrete. He began a long-standing collaboration with the Art Foundry of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, where, in collaboration with professors from the Academy of Fine Arts, he becomes familiar with sculptural technologies. In 1990, he decided to pursue an independent career. At his atelier, he began working on a large clay and plaster sculpture. He established the civic initiative Harpistic Table in 1993. From 2001 to 2007, he published a monthly magazine for new relations in the third millennium, titled ga BERI, in which he also publishes his own brief contemplations. In 2005, he installed the sculptural composition The Bridge outside the new Jagiellonian University, outlining a new project of collaboration among old European universities, named European University Bridges. He lives and works in Ljubljana, Maribor and Zagreb.
Work
He draws designs and produces models of sculptural compositions, seeking solutions for public installations. In his work, he connects engineering, mathematics, design and an extra dimension. At his Maribor and Zagreb ateliers, he makes large compositions in clay, plaster and wood and has them cast in bronze at the Art Foundry in Zagreb. The basic recurring motif of his work is the Woman. As a master of martial arts, he profoundly studies movement and posture in relation to the wisdom of the Far East. At the Maribor gallery, he organises round tables, ceremonial sessions of the Harpistic Table, exhibitions and concerts.