Katalog - Univerza v Ljubljani

janez bernik

janez bernik
Galerija Univerze v Ljubljani
University Gallery in Ljubljanana

CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji
Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana
75/76(497.4):Bernik J.
BERNIK, Janez, 1933-
Janez Bernik / [prevodi tekstov Alkemist ; fotografi je Miha Benedičič]. - Ljubljana : Univerza, 2012
ISBN 978-961-6410-36-6
262102016
1. razstava / 1st exhibition
od 18. junija do 9. septembra 2012 / from 18 June to 9 September 2012

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Kazalo / Contents
Galeriji Univerze v Ljubljani na pot
At the Opening of the University of Ljubljana Gallery
Bernikova večnostna risarska ljubezen
Bernik’s Eternal Love of Drawing
Slike
Paintings
Risbe
Drawings
Podatki o umetniku in njegovem delu
About the Artist and His Work

8
Galeriji Univerze v Ljubljani na pot
Ponosen in vesel sem, da lahko Univerza v Ljubljani, ki se
pogledu od zunaj predstavlja v zgledno obnovljeni impozantni
palači nekdanjega Deželnega dvorca, domači in tuji javnosti
odpre srce svoje ustvarjalne notranjosti z razstavo našega
velikega slikarskega sodobnika akademika prof. Janeza Bernika.
Še posebej pa mi je v čast, da slovenski umetnik svetovnega
slovesa in spoštovani univerzitetni profesor Akademije za
likovno umetnost in oblikovanje odpira vrata nove Galerije
Univerze v Ljubljani, ki v univerzalnem jeziku likovne umetnosti
pooseblja ustvarjalno moč naše prve nacionalne hiše znanosti
in vednosti, humanizma in poglobljenih razgledov po
svetovnih jezikih in kulturah. Zavedamo se namreč, da se
sleherni raziskujoči pogled najpopolneje lahko artikulira prav
v kompleksnem izrazu umetnosti, ki znanje o življenju razkriva
tako, da celovito ohranja skrivnost obstoja sveta.
Z Galerijo Univerze v Ljubljani se poslej podajamo na pot
predstavljanja vrhunskih likovnih umetniških del naših nekdanjih
in sedanjih univerzitetnih učiteljev in umetnikov, ki živo pričujejo
o visokih akademskih standardih in edinstveni ustvarjalni
moči in prodornosti tako našega osrednjega vseučilišča kot
tudi najbolj reprezentativne nacionalne umetnosti. To je tudi
odgovor, zakaj Univerza v svoji slavnostni dvorani odpira lastno
galerijo prav v času, ko sta umetnost in kultura izgubili svoj
simbolni formalni položaj na državni ravni. Vodilna slovenska
univerza si marginalizacije svojih ustvarjalnih moči ne more
privoščiti, če želi obstati in se razvijati v svetu, kjer so ustvarjalci
umetniki in ustvarjalni znanstveniki baklonosci nacionalne
kulture in znanja, s tem pa tudi ekonomske prodornosti in
strokovne konkurenčnosti. V nenehnem pretoku in izmenjavah
znanja in izkušenj bo poslej galerija tudi reprezentativno mesto
za predstavitve gostujočih profesorjev likovne umetnosti in
tistih tujih ustvarjalcev, ki jih posamična univerzitetna okrožja
razpoznavajo kot vrhunske znotraj svoje kulture.
Tisto, kar me kot znanstvenika in ljubitelja umetnosti pri tem
našem novem ustvarjalnem laboratoriju še posebej veseli,
pa je možnost, da na tem mestu izmenjujemo svoje poglede
na umetnost, zlasti sodobno, ki refl ektira naše sedanje
samorazumevanje, in osvetljujemo interakcije med znanostjo in
umetnostjo kot nerazdružljivima metodama odkrivanja življenja
in sveta. Po svojih najboljših močeh se bomo potrudili sčasoma
oblikovati tudi lastno galerijsko zbirko, pri čemer se zanašamo
tudi na darežljivost gostujočih umetnikov, saj bomo tako lahko
kar najbolj prepričljivo promovirali vrhunsko domačo likovno
ustvarjalnost in se na reprezentativni točki slovenskega duha
razgledovali po tujih kulturah.
Hvaležen sem kolegom univerzitetnim profesorjem za
plemenito pobudo in vsebinsko utemeljitev nove institucije in
spoštovanemu, dragemu akademiku prof. Janezu Berniku, da
jo je počastil z otvoritveno razstavo. Veselim se, da nam je bilo
dano skupaj prižgati umetniško ognjišče v središču ustvarjalnega
slovenstva, ki ga z žarom številnih znanstvenikov in umetnikov
goji Univerza v Ljubljani kot naše osrednje živo srečevališče z
elitnimi zaslužnimi osebnostmi in ustanovami po svetu.
Rektor prof. dr. Radovan Stanislav Pejovnik

At the Opening of the University of Ljubljana
Gallery
I am very happy and proud of the fact that the University of
Ljubljana, housed in the beautifully renovated and majestic
Provincial Mansion building, can now invite the Slovenian and
foreign public into the very heart of its creative interior with this
exhibition of a great artist and our contemporary, Academician
Prof. Janez Bernik. I am particularly proud that this worldrenowned
artist and highly respected university professor at
the Academy of Fine Arts and Design is the fi rst to exhibit his
work in the new University of Ljubljana Gallery. In the universal
language of art, the new gallery embodies the creative power
of our university, a leading national institution dedicated to
knowledge and science, humanities and in-depth perspectives
on world languages and cultures. We are well aware that there
is no better way for any searching gaze to articulate itself than
in the complex expression of art – an expression that reveals
knowledge about life, yet still preserves the mystery of the
world’s existence.
With the opening of the University of Ljubljana Gallery, we now
embark on the path of presenting the fi nest artworks created
by our former and current university lecturers and artists.
They are living witnesses of the high academic standards,
unique creative power and astuteness of the country’s leading
university and most representative form of art. This also answers
the question of why the University has chosen to open a gallery
in its festive hall at a time when art and culture have lost their
symbolic formal status at government level. Slovenia’s leading
university simply cannot afford to marginalise its creative power
– not if we want to survive and develop in a world where
creative artists and creative scientists are the torchbearers of
national culture and knowledge, leading in turn to economic
lucidity and trade competitiveness. With a constant fl ow and
exchange of knowledge and experience, our gallery can now
serve as a representative space for presentations of visiting
professors of art, as well as various foreign artists recognised
by individual university districts as the best in their own cultural
environment.
As a scientist and lover of art, what I am personally most excited
about when it comes to this new creative laboratory of ours is
the opportunity to use it as a forum to exchange views about
art, particularly contemporary art, which refl ects our current
self-understanding. Furthermore, I hope that the gallery will also
serve to highlight the interaction between science and art as two
inseparable methods of learning about life and the world. We
will do our best to establish our own gallery collection eventually,
relying partly on the generosity of the visiting artists. This will be
the best way for us to promote outstanding Slovenian artistic
creativity and contemplate foreign cultures at a point that is so
representative of the Slovenian spirit.
I am extremely grateful to my fellow university professors for
their noble initiative and substantiation of the new institution,
and particularly to the eminent academician, our dear Prof.
Janez Bernik, for honouring us with the inaugural exhibition.
I am pleased that we are able to light this artistic fi re in the
very heart of national creativity, fuelled by the enthusiasm of
the many scientists and artists associated with the University
of Ljubljana – the central meeting place for prominent
personalities and institutions across the world.
Rector, Prof. Dr. Radovan Stanislav Pejovnik
9

10
Bernikova večnostna risarska ljubezen
Slike in dnevniške risbe Janeza Bernika
Videc z modrijansko glavo
roma skozi nótranjost sveta.
Na poti do podzemnega neba
strmi le v človeško zmešnjavo.
Zaslužni profesor ljubljanske Univerze, akademski slikar
akademik Janez Bernik v svoji umetnosti arhitektonsko
pretehtano povezuje kontemplativno zbranost z intenziteto
duhovnega izraza in odzivi na družbeno dogajanje, vse to pa
prežarja z veliko estetsko pretanjenostjo svoje izjemno občutljive
likovne narave.
Z močno nadarjenostjo je Bernik izstopal že kot srednješolec
in zatem kot študent na ljubljanski likovni akademiji, njegova
nadaljnja umetniška pot, razvidna skozi avtorjeva ciklična
ustvarjalna poglavja, pa je nenavadno pestra, zapletena
in hkrati notranje logična. Umetnik je pričel soustvarjati
tedanji evropski informel: podobe razjedenih zidov, v katerih
dojemamo utelešenje samote, ne le reliefno otipljive in optično
razbrazdane snovi, ter površine vulkanskih magem, v katerih
se nakazuje slutnja nerazvidne zemeljske globine, ki iztiska na
površje svojo reliefno strjujočo se estetsko materijo, v raznolike
abstraktne površine pa je pričel vtiskovati tudi pismenke.
Črkovna znamenja so postala bistven del njegove širše kulturne,
ne le likovne identitete ter sporočilo nerazvidnega, o katerem
govore poleg latinskih tudi cirilske in zlasti glagolske črke, s
katerimi se je Bernik srečal na hrastoveljskih freskah, predvsem
kot nosilci docela nerazberljivih zapisov, ki vsaj s svojo intencijo
presegajo kaligrafsko estetiko zgolj likovnih učinkov. Vključil
jih je namreč v slikarsko sporočilo o človeški zgodovini in
komunikaciji, v kateri je razvidna predvsem še skrivnostnost,
namigujejo pa tudi na nemožnost izrekanja tega, kar naj bi
ostalo zamolčano, a se v slutnjah razkriva kot onemeli glas
tudi skozi nerazvidnost grafi čnih sledov. Ta lepa in častitljiva
sporočila, pisma, listine, plošče, zapise in dokumente, je
umetnik prežel tudi s trikotniškimi zarezami kot njihovimi (in
svojimi oziroma človeškimi) ranami in dopolnil z odrgninami,
pa tudi s slovesnimi zlatimi obrobami in diagonalami, skratka,
z likovnimi sestavinami, ki imajo ob estetskem čaru ves čas tudi
svoj skriti globinski pomen, kajti lepota in enigma sta za Bernika
eno in isto; arhaičnost, prvinskost, davnina in samota pa so mu
sinonim za bivanjsko zavezanost naravi, kulturi in zgodovini.
S tako umetnostjo iz poznih petdesetih in zgodnjih šestdesetih
let 20. stoletja, izraženo s tedaj najsodobnejšim informelskim
in letrističnim likovnim jezikom, je postal Bernik tisti izbranec
našega najvplivnejšega galerista Zorana Kržišnika, ki naj bi vpisal
s svojo primarno ustvarjalno močjo in aktualnostjo povojno
slovensko likovno umetnost tudi v najširšo kulturno zavest;
to prestižno tekmovalno vključevanje v svetovno odprtost
Bernik’s Eternal Love of Drawing
The Paintings and Dairy Drawings of Janez Bernik
A seer with a wise man’s mind
wanders through the world’s insides.
On his way towards the nether skies
the madness of humanity is all he’ll fi nd.
In his art, academician Janez Bernik, professor emeritus at the
University of Ljubljana and Academy-trained painter, creates
architectonic connections between a contemplative focus with a
marked intensity of spiritual expression and social commentary,
infusing his themes with the aesthetic refi nement characteristic
of his extraordinarily sensitive artistic nature.
Even as a secondary school student and later as a student
at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts, Bernik displayed
immense talent. His artistic path, divided into several cyclical
creative chapters, has been unusually varied and complex but
has always maintained a certain internal logic. Bernik soon
immersed himself in the European Art Informel movement,
creating images of corroded walls, textured paintings that can
be perceived not merely as visual and tactile representations
of ridges and furrows, but also as physical representations of
solitude, volcanic magma matter, hinting at the immeasurable
depths of the earth and hardening into textured, aesthetic
forms as it comes to the surface, and various abstract paintings
featuring engraved characters. These engravings would
eventually develop into an essential part of his artistic and
cultural identity, communicating a mysterious message coded in
Latin, Cyrillic and particularly in Glagolitic letters, which Bernik
had encountered in the frescoes of Hrastovlje. The characters
are composed into entirely indecipherable engravings whose
intention far exceeds the mere aesthetic effects of calligraphy.
Bernik used them to create a painter’s message about human
history and communication, highlighting above all the aspect
of mysteriousness. At the same time, his message hints at the
inability to utter what should be left unsaid, yet continues to
be revealed in a silent voice, encoded in inscrutable graphic
traces. These magnifi cent, venerable messages, letters, deeds,
plates, writings and documents are scored with triangular cuts
(symbolic of the artist’s as well as humanity’s wounds) and
fi nished with abrasions. They also feature ceremonial gold
borders and diagonals, each element contributing hidden
meaning in addition to its aesthetic function, for Bernik sees
beauty and mystery as one and the same. The artist uses
archaic, primeval, ancient elements and solitude as synonyms of
existential dedication to nature, culture and history.
These artworks, created in the late 1950s and early 1960s,
expressing the spirit of the Informel and Lettrism movements
prevalent at the time, led to Bernik becoming the protégé of
highly infl uential gallerist Zoran Kržišnik. Kržišnik hoped that

likovnega dogajanja pa je pomenilo zanj tudi velik ustvarjalni
izziv ter odgovornost in, vsaj gledano z današnjega vidika, ko
se je umetnik docela umaknil v malone puščavniško ustvarjalno
samoto, tudi močno zahtevno obremenitev, ki mu je prinesla
tako zgodnjo mednarodno slavo kot domačo zavist manj
nadarjenih od njega.
Med Bernikovimi liki in formami, ki arhitektonsko dopolnjujejo
oziroma uokvirjajo njegovo informelskost in črkovnost, že
spočetka, v abstraktno občutenih delih, dominirajo trikotniki
in pravokotniki ter posebej »obrzdana« diagonala, kot jo je za
osrednjo oblikovno konstituanto, ki vnaša v njegovo urejenost
dinamiko, prvi označil profesor Marijan Tršar. Po abstraktnejših
fazah in vzporedno z njimi so vstopili v Bernikovo ustvarjalnost,
tako v slikarstvo kot naraščajočo grafi ko, tudi iz duha
popularne umetnosti (poparta) izhajajoči predmetni oziroma
»organski« motivi (med njimi telefoni, žarnice, nosorogi,
baročno razgibani stoli, jabolka in roke), v svoji eksistenci hkrati
reistično konkretni, izrazito estetsko prefi njeno izoblikovani in
simbolni, med posameznimi fi gurami pa izstopa zlasti obličje
slikarjeve izjemno sugestivne žene, slikarke in grafi čarke Adriane
Maraž s fajumsko prodornimi očmi. Pred sredo osemdesetih
let 20. stoletja, ob svoji petdesetletnici, pa je umetnik doživel
doslej najintenzivnejši prelom, utemeljen v notranji poglobitvi,
v etičnem presojanju človeških pojavov oziroma dejanj in
stopnjevanem eshatološkem spraševanju o zadnjih rečeh.
V tej svoji intenziviranosti, usmerjeni docela navznoter, v
»sence na duši«, se je Bernik motivno oprl na mitično biblijsko
izročilo in se oprijel že kar drastično deformirane ekspresivne
fi guralike, ki je presenetila z meditativno poglobljeno in
boleče neposredno, že kar pretresljivo izrazno močjo in s tem
vznemirila zlasti pesnike in mislece, ki so ga poslej še raje
interpretirali, iz njihovega delovanja pa je črpal spodbude tudi
sam. Njegova sporočila nam, v duhu Dostojevskega, oživljenega
prek profesorja Dušana Pirjevca, govore o ljubezni za nič, ki
jo pretresljivo oživlja pod Križanim poleg ljubeče matere zlasti
zvesta Marija Magdalena; Niko Grafenauer je Bernika dojel kot
križanega bogoiskatelja, Tine Hribar kot pričevalca o svetem in
manihejski razdeljenosti sveta; s stisko in krutostjo svojih fi gur je
postal blizu obredno zaklinjajočemu se Danetu Zajcu, njegovo
umetnost je poleg Zajca upesnjeval tudi Jože Snoj in vključeval
v svojo prozo Marjan Rožanc. Nekdanji Bernikov profesor
Božidar Jakac, ki je cenil ekspresionizem, pa je umetnika ob
prelomni razstavi označil kot vrnulega se izgubljenega sina;
tudi svetopisemska vrnitev klečečega sinu z romarsko palico,
ki prihaja iz kaosa sveta k odpuščajočemu očetu in domačim
hišnim durim, pa sodi med Bernikove kardinalne in najbolj
pomenljive motive.
Bernik’s creative power and position at the cutting edge of
the art world would contribute towards Slovenian post-war art
registering in the global cultural consciousness. For Bernik, the
prestigious and competitive aspects of being involved in the
global art scene represented a considerable creative challenge
and responsibility as well as a heavy burden, the extent of
which can only be fully understood from today’s perspective,
knowing that the artist has secluded himself in a state of
solitary, creative isolation. The exposure earned Bernik both
early international fame and the envy of less talented artists at
home.
The shapes and forms that Bernik uses to create architectonic
complements and frames for his Informel and Lettrism themes
have been dominated from the very beginning, even in his
abstract evocative works, by triangles, rectangles and especially
by diagonal lines. These “restrained” diagonals, as they were
fi rst described by Prof. Marijan Tršar, are the central formative
constituents of Bernik’s art, introducing a certain dynamic into
the order. Following, and parallel to the more abstract stages in
his creativity, Bernik began to incorporate in his paintings, and
in his increasingly numerous prints, various fi gurative, “organic”
motifs in line with the Pop Art movement popular at the time.
These included telephones, light bulbs, rhinoceroses, baroquely
elaborate chairs, apples and hands. Highly aesthetically refi ned,
these objects are at once realistically concrete and symbolic.
Of the fi gures that Bernik portrayed, the most striking is
undoubtedly the face of his wife, painter and printmaker
Adriana Maraž, with the piercing eyes of a Fayum portrait.
Before the mid-80s, around his fi ftieth birthday, the artist
experienced his most intense turning point yet, focusing on
internalised questioning, ethical evaluation of people and their
actions and, increasingly, on an eschatological investigation of
the fi nal destiny.
This intensity was directed entirely inwards, towards “the
shadows in the soul”. Finding his motifs in the mythical biblical
tradition, Bernik turned to drastically deformed, expressive
fi gures with a power of expression that is almost shocking
in its surprising meditative depth and painful directness. This
proved to be particularly exciting for poets and philosophers
who became even fonder of interpreting Bernik’s work, while
he in turn found fresh motivation in their writing. In the spirit of
Dostoevsky, channelled through Prof. Dušan Pirjevec, Bernik’s
messages tell us of love for nothing, expressed so touchingly
at the feet of Christ on the cross by his loving mother and
the loyal Mary Magdalene; Niko Grafenauer saw Bernik as a
crucifi ed man in search of God, while Tine Hribar described him
as a witness of everything holy and of the Manichean division
of the world; the distress and cruelty of Bernik’s fi gures brought
11

12
Seveda ta prelom sam po sebi nikakor ni bil programiran
kot pot na novo, marveč likovno izhaja iz vseh dotedanjih
umetnikovih oblikovnih prvin, trikotnikov in diagonal, ki so
mu vzbrstele v simbolne asketske človeške pa tudi predvsem
žrtvene živalske postave, v Molohova žrela in smrtna brezna,
ter se zgošča iz poudarjenih svetlobnih kontrastov v vsebinski
dialog svetlobe in temine, dobrega in zlega, ki ju umetniku
simbolizirajo zlasti značilno strogostne svečeniške oziroma
demonske postave s spačenimi obličji in groteskno nebotičnimi
svečeniškimi pokrivali, s svojimi rezkimi kretnjami in dejanji
intenzivno zaposlene v vlogah pričevalcev, žrtev in rabljev. Zato
je skorajda mogoče reči, da je njegova sleherna likovna prvina,
pa tudi motiv (tako kot na primer risbe ofi cirjev, samotarjev,
trpinov ali človeka s kačami že iz poprejšnjih let), predpostavljala
tudi svoj šele pozneje razviden izraziteje oseben smisel, in da
ni bila nobena umetnikova dotedanja črta potegnjena zaman,
tako kot ni bila, po Ivanu Cankarju, v zgodovini zaman prelita
nobena človeška solza, pa četudi so Berniku radi očitali, da vse
preveč predano sledi najnovejšim znamenjem časa, ki jih je srkal
vase in se jim ustvarjalno prepuščal, ker je bil tudi že sam po
sebi instinktivno dojemljiv zanja in je v mladosti skušal tudi vse
preizkusiti in posvojiti, zaradi česar je profesor Luc Menaše v
svojem Svetovnem biografskem leksikonu celo konstatiral, da je
Bernikov obsežni opus »pravi pregled aktualnega slikarstva in
grafi ke v tistem času«.
V umetnosti ustvarjalca, ki je pristal v jedru eksistencialno
usmerjenih in družbeno zavzetih mislecev iz duhovnega okrožja
Nove revije, je postal sčasoma jasneje razviden tudi Bernikov
razmislek o konkretnejših pojavih človeške družbe, ki ga v
poprejšnjem fi guralnem delu evocirajo že silhuetne podobe
mogotcev na foteljih, t. i. Mandatarjev, zdaj pa se je nakazal
bolj na simbolično ideološki ravni zlasti v motiviki slovenskih
ikeban z razkrajajočimi se srpi in kladivi. Jedro vse te Bernikove
ustvarjalnosti pa se očitno dviga na univerzalno človeško
raven, zato je krščansko obarvana oziroma bogoiskateljska
motivika v njegovi umetnosti le arhetip, in ne prilagodljivo
znamenje v družbi obujenega katolicizma, kot so si bolj idejno
kakor umetnostnokritiško razlagali tisti, ki so táko motiviko v
njegovi umetnosti dojeli le enostransko oziroma konfesionalno
ideološko.
Človeško umrljivo, a po nesmrtnosti težeče bivanje doživlja
umetnik Janez Bernik kot posvečeno že v njegovem tragičnem
smrtnem temelju in zato se temu prilegajo tudi človeški atributi,
med katerimi izstopa poleg romarske palice obredna sveča, med
njegovimi formami pa je dobil posebno veljavo tudi križ, ki mu,
v podobi Kristusa brez križa, le z razpetimi rokami, simbolizira
samotnega, sebi prepuščenega, v nepregledni temini kozmosa
lebdečega žrtvovanega, nebogljenega smrtnega človeka, sámo
him closer to the ritualistic spells of Dane Zajc; in addition to
Zajc, Bernik’s art also inspired the poetry of Jože Snoj and the
prose of Marjan Rožanc. After Bernik’s milestone exhibition, his
former teacher Božidar Jakac, who valued Expressionism above
all, described the artist as the prodigal son returning home. The
biblical return of a son holding a pilgrim’s staff and kneeling in
front of his forgiving father, having come back home from the
chaos of the world, is also one of Bernik’s cardinal and most
meaningful motifs.
Obviously, this turning point in itself was not a brand new
direction; rather, it evolved from elements previously favoured
by Bernik, the triangles and diagonal lines blossoming into
symbolic ascetic human fi gures and sacrifi cial animal fi gures,
into the jaws of Moloch and bottomless pits, the contrasts
between light and shade developing into a substantive dialogue
between light and darkness, good and evil. These pairs are
symbolised by typically strict priestly fi gures and demonic fi gures
with contorted faces and grotesquely tall ceremonial hats,
their sharp gestures and actions placing them into the roles
of witnesses, victims and executioners. It could therefore be
argued that every single artistic element or motif (such as, for
instance, the sketches of offi cers, loners, sufferers or the man
with snakes from the past years) anticipates a certain personal
meaning that was not fully realised or developed until later,
and that not a single line drawn by the artist has been wasted,
much like, to quote Ivan Cankar, “not a single tear throughout
history has been shed in vain”. This is true despite the fact
that Bernik was often reproached for keeping too closely with
the latest trends, which he always eagerly absorbed and used
creatively, since he had an instinctual thirst for knowledge and,
in his youth, a desire to try everything and master everything. It
was this characteristic of his that led Prof. Luc Menaše to assert
in his World Biographical Lexicon that Bernik’s extensive opus
was “a veritable overview of the current trends in painting and
printmaking of the time.”
After Bernik found himself in the group of existentialist, socially
engaged thinkers from the spiritual circle of Nova revija, his
art began to refl ect more clearly his thoughts on various
concrete elements of society that had been evoked in his earlier,
fi gurative works by the silhouetted magnates in armchairs, the
Formateurs. Now, these elements were coming through on a
more symbolic, ideological level, particularly in the motifs of
Slovenian arrangements of decomposing sickles and hammers.
It is apparent that the core of Bernik’s creativity is rising to a
universal human level, thus making the themes of Christianity
and the search for God in his art a mere archetype rather than a
fl exible symbol of socially revived Catholicism. The latter is how
they were interpreted (with idealistic belief, rather than any kind
of knowledge of art criticism) by people who perceived these
themes in Bernik’s art from a one-dimensional, confessional and
ideological point of view.

znamenje križa pa ga je prevzelo že s preprosto, elementarno
formo. Križanje mu je postalo univerzalno znamenje človeškega
trpljenja, človeško življenje pa je posameznikov križev pot, ki
ga je umetnik, da bi poudaril misel o njegovi napornosti in
ustregel svoji težnji po arhitektoniki, v podobah za prenovljeno
ljubljansko trnovsko cerkev inventivno postavil celo na strmo
stopnišče, po kakršnem pogosto stopa tudi njegov svečeniški
in hkrati sleherniški človeški romar. Njegovi fi guraliki pa se je
pridružila še druge vrste arhitektura, posebej motiv svetišča
(včasih slovesno povzdignjenega na poetično vznesenem
stilobatu), ki simbolizira prostor duhovnosti, življenjske
posvečenosti in milosti, z zavetnim portalom, ki naj bi
perspektivično vsrkal vase tudi gledalčevo duhovno navzočnost.
Krščanski ikonografi ji kot najbolj ukoreninjeni v zahodnoevropski
duhovni zavesti se v Bernikovem univerzalno občutenem
delu vse bolj pridružuje tudi daljnovzhodni naglas, ki je bil v
umetnikovi kaligrafi ji navzoč že spočetka, v zenovsko ubranih
linearnih in senčno prosojnih ter ponekod fi gurativno aluzivnih
risarskih znamenjih; umetnikov poglobljeno prenovljeni
pogled vase pa je pričel likovno uprizarjati predvsem temeljno
človeško eksistencialno iskanje in strastno prizadevanje
po spoznanju: iskanje smisla, resnice in odrešitve. Zato si
je Bernik za dominantno znamenje tega večnega, že prav
obsesivnega zavzemanja na novo, a najbrž za vselej izbral
podobo duhovnega dvojnika: konfesionalno neopredeljivega
in arhaično brezčasnega, a posvečenega gologlavega in
največkrat golobradega iskalca, meditanta, ki vneto išče,
dinamično krčevit ali umirjeno zamaknjen, ter vrisuje v
brezbrežno ozemlje svoj krožni ris kot podobo popolnosti
in zaokroženosti, obdan z znamenjem skrivnosti, posebej z
večpomensko, mnogoobrazno kačo, ponekod zamišljeno kot
uroboros, ali vzdiguje v rokah povešeno oziroma podolžno
obrnjeno osmico, ki pomeni neskončnost; poleg tega pa je
upodobil tudi nekakšne presojevalce oziroma razsodnike z
neizprosno raziskujočim pogledom in fi gure z obličji ali aluzijami
na fi ziognomije svetovnih ustvarjalcev, ki jih spoštuje, ter človeka
še naprej dojemal predvsem kot smrtno žrtev pred breznom
teme, ki jo osvetljuje simbolna luč. Umetnik je v tem času
tudi sam in dobesedno postal tak bogoiskalec, redkobeseden
svečenik in samotar, navzven pravo nasprotje mladeniču, ki
se je moral nenehno dohitevati, preizkušati in uveljavljati na
svetovnih razstavah, a hkrati dedič vseh svojih oziroma njegovih
preizkušenj, ki so ga poglobile v odpuščajočega modreca,
zaupajočega le še v askezo in bogastvo lastnih izkušenj, v globino
lastnih doživljanj in spoznanj; zato so te njegove najosebnejše
podobe polne življenjske modrosti, a tudi morebitnih travm,
strahov in vznemirjenj, ki jih lahko na poti večnega romarskega
iskanja spremljata kozmični brezup in kaotičnost človeške
zgodovinske drame, a tudi neugaslo upanje in hrepenenje.
Uniting mortality and the yearning for immortality, the human
existence is something that Janez Bernik perceives as sacred,
based as it is on the tragic inevitability of death. Consequently,
he depicts appropriate human attributes in his art, focusing
particularly on the pilgrim’s staff and ceremonial candle. One
of the shapes Bernik uses most frequently is the cross, which
has seemingly enchanted him with its simple, elementary form.
Meanwhile, the image of Christ without the cross but still
holding out his arms symbolises a lonely, abandoned, helpless,
mortal human, sacrifi ced to the cosmos and fl oating in its
endless darkness. For Bernik, crucifi xion has become a universal
symbol of human suffering, while human life is equated with
the Stations of the Cross. In order to stress his idea of the
diffi cult nature of life and to satisfy his architectonic tastes,
the artist created a series of images for the renovated church
in Trnovo and inventively installed them on a steep staircase –
exactly the type of staircase often climbed by Bernik’s typical
pilgrim, who is at the same time a priest and an everyman.
Bernik’s fi gures and motifs are now joined by another type
of architecture, particularly a temple (often ceremoniously
depicted on a poetically elated stylobate) symbolising the house
of spirituality, sanctity of life and mercy, while its portal creates
perspective to absorb the spiritual presence of the observer.
In addition to Christian iconography, which is the most
prevalent in the spiritual consciousness of Western Europe, an
increasing number of Far Eastern touches can now be detected
in Bernik’s universal art. The Far East has been present in his
works from the very beginning, hidden in the calligraphy and
in the Zen-like, linear, translucently shaded, fi gurative and
allusive elements. But now, the artist’s insight into himself
has deepened, and he is focusing on depicting the human
existential search and passionate quest for enlightenment:
the quest for meaning, truth and salvation. That is why Bernik
chose for the dominant symbol of this eternal, obsessive search
a new and probably permanent image of his spiritual double: an
indefi nable and archaically timeless man, a dedicated searcher
with no hat and, usually, no beard, meditative, passionately
searching for something, dynamically focused or calmly
pensive, drawing on the limitless land a ring as the image of
perfection and completeness. He is surrounded by mysterious
symbols, often a snake with many meanings and many faces,
sometimes imagined as an ouroboros, or he holds in his
hands a sideways eight, the symbol of infi nity. Also depicted
are a group of judges or arbiters with mercilessly searching
gazes and fi gures with the faces of or allusions to the physical
features of various international artists whom Bernik respects.
Above all, Bernik continues to perceive people mainly as dying
victims above a pit of darkness, illuminated by a symbolic light.
During this period, the artist himself began his search for God,
becoming a priest and loner of few words, outwardly the exact
opposite of the young man who was so dedicatedto always
keeping up with the trends, testing the limits and taking part
in exhibitions across the world. But at the same time, Bernik
13

14
Vse take Bernikove fi gure so hkrati izrazne in simbolne, navzoče
v neizmernem prostranstvu nočnega kozmosa, prežarjenega
z dinamičnimi prebliski; potapljajo se v vodovja kot med
obrednim krstom in zatapljajo v lasten notranji svet ter se
rojevajo iz oblik, ki jih je umetnik gojil, pripravljal in prerajal vse
življenje, iz organsko povezanih geometrijskih likov, ki pomenijo
temelj njegove abecede, kot ga je eksplicitneje razglasil tudi v
ekspresivnih grafi kah s trikotnikom, krogom in pravokotnikom
oziroma kvadratom, ki jih njegovi iskalci v najrazličnejših
kombinacijah prenašajo s seboj in vročično prekladajo tudi
kot svoje značilne atribute. Njegov likovni jezik je zlogujoče
oglat, a tudi spevno zaokrožen, kompozicijsko pretehtan, vse
bolj zgoščen na bistveno in v osnovi arhitektonski, in tako
usmerjen je že od vsega začetka. Zato ni nenavadno, da je
umetnik, ki je ustvarjal bronasta znamenja že v času svojega
letrizma, sočasno intenzivneje snoval tudi arhitektonsko
poudarjene, v geometrizirani predmetnosti abstraktne in
fi guralne kipe oziroma objekte (med njimi podobe stopničastih
obeliskov in svetih knjig) ter oba koncepta tudi značilno
povezal v abstraktno-fi guralno enovitost; zamišljal pa si je celo
prave spominsko spomeniške, idealne ateljejske in sakralne
arhitekture, prav tako temelječe na strmih trikotniških ostrinah.
A je v svojem delu hkrati tudi izrazito gibek in v ekspresivnosti
zverižen, tako kot so poševno priostrena ali vsaj vegasto
nagnjena tudi njegova arhitektonska svetišča. Bernikov
ustvarjalni svet, ki je s svojimi prizorišči in neomajnimi akterji
videti večnosten, je hkrati tudi negotov in gibljiv, kot bi se
zamajal in poševno ustalil v spokojno odrevenelem duhovnem
vetru ob navzočnosti zvonov, v kakršne se je na nekaterih
risbah preoblikovala njegova ustvarjalna dlan. Vanj so zajeta
zgodovinska izročila in človeške bolečine, vse bolj pa v njem
živi tudi zavest o živi navzočnosti mrtvih, ki jih oznanjajo tako
vsepovsod razsuti pokopališki križi kot človeške kosti, nagnetene
v breznih in prerezih zemeljskih plasti, ter v duhovnem izročilu
in umetnikovem pesniškem spoznanju temelječi napisi, da je
nebo tudi spodaj in da so grobovi tudi na nebu, pri čemer si
v Bernikovi ustvarjalnosti podajata roko tako večnostnost kot
aluzije na trpko povojno slovensko zgodovino; tej pa je bil
umetnik v najbolj občutljivih letih, ki se mu vse bolj prebujajo v
spominu, ponekod tudi sam živa priča.
Ustvarjalec je v svoji samoti, v iskanju katarze, ki mu jo prinaša
umetnost, svoje risarske in grafi čne cikle označeval kot Katharsis
ad infi nitum in kot Samote; tema dvema in še drugim celotam
pa lahko pripadajo tudi ene in iste podobe, ker je pri Berniku
vse medsebojno povezano. V slike in grafi ke je, po posameznih
dominantnih besedah, kot so trave ali angeli, vse bolj vključeval
tudi zapise svojih izrekov, ki jih razbiramo že na stenah
njegovega ateljeja (npr. Pustiti biti, Riši z levo in ponižno), ter
segmente iz poezije, ki se ji je pričel intenzivneje posvečati zlasti
inherited the young man’s experiences – his own experiences
– which transformed him into a wise, forgiving man, trusting
only the asceticism and wealth of his own experience, the
depth of his own observations and understanding. That is why
his most personal images are so fi lled with wisdom but also
with potential traumas, fears and excitement; on the path of
the pilgrim’s everlasting quest, these emotions can be tinged
with cosmic hopelessness, chaos and drama of human history,
but they can also be touched with inextinguishable hope and
yearning.
Every one of Bernik’s fi gures is at once expressive and symbolic,
present in the endless night of the cosmos, illuminated by
dynamic fl ashes; they dive into the water much like in baptism,
they sink into their own inner world and they are born from the
forms that the artist has spent his entire life nursing, preparing
and improving. These forms are organically linked geometric
shapes that form the basis of Bernik’s artistic alphabet, the
basis that was explicitly announced in Bernik’s expressive prints
depicting triangles, circles, rectangles and squares – shapes
that his fi gures, his searchers carry with them in various
combinations and feverishly stack together as their typical
attributes. His artistic language is haltingly edgy but at the
same time poetically rounded, carefully composed, increasingly
focused on the essence and with an architectonic heart, which
is the way it has been from the very beginning. It is no surprise
then that while creating bronze signs in his Lettrism period,
the artist simultaneously worked intensively on abstract and
fi gurative sculptures and objects (including depictions of step
obelisks and sacred books) of an architectonic, geometric
nature, connecting both concepts into a characteristic abstractfi
gurative whole. Bernik even imagined genuine memorial
and commemorative structures, ideal studios and sacred
architecture, all based on the sharp angles of a triangle. But at
the same time, Bernik’s work is distinctly fl exible and distorted
in its expressiveness, just like his sharply slanted and crookedly
inclined architectonic temples. The scenes and steadfast
characters of Bernik’s creative world make it seem eternal, but
at the same time it is unsure and yielding, as if it had rocked
and settled at an angle in the calm stillness of a spiritual breeze,
accompanied by the sound of bells that Bernik’s creative hand
was transformed into in certain sketches. His creative world
encompasses historic traditions, human pain and, increasingly,
the awareness of the living presence of the deceased, who
are denoted by the ever-present graveyard crosses and human
bones, crowded in pits and cross-sections of soil. The dead are
also present in the inscriptions stating that the sky is also below
and the graves are also up in the sky – inscriptions based in
the artist’s spiritual tradition and poetic enlightenment. It is at
this point in Bernik’s creativity that eternity meets allusions to
Slovenia’s bitter post-war history, which the artist witnessed
himself at a highly sensitive age, an age that is now increasingly
returning to his memory.

v osemdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja, a je vključena v njegove
risbe tudi že v desetletju pred tem. V grafi ke je vpisoval tudi
celotne pesmi, ki so vsebinsko in po izraznem načinu pravi
ekvivalent njegove likovne ustvarjalnosti, tako kot besedilo
v značilni krilati angelski postavi, izzvenevajoče s ponižno
vzhičenim začudenjem verza o čudež, kako vse je. Sčasoma pa
so pričeli učinkovati kot naslovi njegovih podob kar vanje vpisani
datumi ob podpisnih monogramih in tako je dobila Bernikova
umetnost ob vsej brezčasnosti tudi značaj osebnega dnevnika
umetnikovih meditacij in duhovnih iskanj. V novejšem času,
zlasti po prelomu tisočletja, se je Berniku ta dnevnik na novo
osredotočil na kontinuirano risanje v majhnih priročnih formatih
(A4) in v različnih tehnikah, s čopičem v gvašu in še posebno
s tiskarsko barvo ter s svinčnikom in nazadnje ponovno tudi
s perorisbo, in take risbe je umetnik, od nekdaj velik ljubitelj
knjig, zelo rad prestregel tudi v monumentalne publikacije.
Po knjigi risb Črte iz leta 1977, ki velja za njegovo prvo
»dnevniško« zamišljeno monografi jo, in Samotah iz leta
2002 je leta 2010 izšel izbor risb iz celotnega dotedanjega
umetnikovega ustvarjanja z naslovom Nočni dnevnik in leto
zatem najnovejša, enako obsežna knjiga perorisb Hvala,
mama. Te risbe so videti v svoji mnogobraznosti neizčrpne
in so s kompleksno lestvico človeških telesnih in duhovnih
položajev usmerjene le v bistvene lege človeškega, posebej
ustvarjalnega iskanja, sanjanja in životarjenja, a tudi v
ekstatične vizije o usodi slovenstva. Te nam najdosledneje
ponazarja cikel Slovenska Guernica, s prispodobnim prikazom
kaotičnega stanja v razpadajoči stari in nastajajoči novi državi,
zaradi posledic človeške norosti in vsakršnih zablod podobni
nekakšni prosekturi; iz njega in drugod pa je razvidna tudi
kritika političnih in cerkvenih veljakov in njihovih navad
oziroma značajev. V vso to nelagodnost pa se je pričelo vse
bolj vključevati tudi umetnikovo osebno, posebej zdravstveno
počutje, ki ga danes slikar ob srečanjih najpogosteje pospremlja
s pristavkom Samo da smo zdravi!; toda njegova fi zična
bolečina ima v sebi gotovo tudi vsesplošnejši pomen, hkrati
pa je gorenjsko nesentimentalni, a vse bolj čustveni umetnik
(»Johan iz Breznice«) v táko samoopazovanje vnesel tudi pridih
samoironije, ki ga je v zadnjem času ponekod nežno tonsko
dopolnil kar s posušenimi sledovi blažilne modre frankinje,
pokapljane po risbah.
V takih intimnih formatih se je pričel vse bolj razkrivati tudi
Bernikov domišljijski razmah, izražen na primer v večglavo
razraščenih fi gurah, grotesknih kot v kalejdoskopskem
blodnjaku fantastičnega srednjega veka, vse življenjske situacije
pa so v njegovih risbah zajete malone kot situacijski vzorci, ki
zarisujejo zgodbe človeške samote, ustvarjalnih prizadevanj in
razmišljanj, medčloveških osebnih odnosov ter umetnikovih
In his solitude and the search for catharsis, which he found in
art, Bernik entitled his drawing and print cycles Katharsis ad
infi nitum and Solitudes; since everything in Bernik’s work is
interconnected, these two and other titles could be used to
denote one and the same image. Following individual dominant
words such as grasses or angels, the artist increasingly began
to include in his paintings and prints various phrases, as well as
segments of poetry, that can also be found on the walls of his
studio (e.g. Let it be, Draw with your left and with humility).
Bernik only began to focus intensively on poetry in the 1980s,
even though it is also included in the drawings and sketches he
created in the previous decade. He would also inscribe entire
poems in his prints, poems whose substantive and expressive
aspects are on a par with his art. One such example is the text
inscribed on a typical winged fi gure of an angel, ending with
a humbly ecstatic line how wondrous the way everything is.
Eventually, the dates inscribed on the images next to the artist’s
initials took on the role of titles, giving a new dimension to
the timelessness of Bernik’s art: it now took on the character
of a personal diary for the artist’s meditations and spiritual
searching. In recent decades, particularly in the new millennium,
this journal of Bernik’s has focused afresh on continuous small
format drawing (A4) in various techniques: paintbrush with
gouache, printing dyes, pencil and pen and ink drawing. The
artist, always a great lover of books, has chosen to publish
many of these drawings in large format publications.
Following the book of drawings entitled Lines, published in
1977 and considered to be Bernik’s fi rst “diary” monograph,
and Solitudes in 2002, 2010 saw the publication of Night
Diary, a selection of drawings created throughout the artist’s
entire career. In 2011, he published a collection of pen and ink
drawings entitled Thank You, Mother. Portraying a complex
range of human physical and spiritual positions, these multifaceted
drawings focus on the most essential elements of
humanity, particularly on creative searching, dreaming and
miserable existence, but also on ecstatic visions about the
fate of the Slovenian nation. The latter are the most clearly
evident in the cycle entitled The Slovenian Guernica, depicting a
metaphorical chaos in the collapsing old country and the rising
new country, the follies and delusions of humankind making it
reminiscent of a prosectorium. Criticism of political and church
magnates, their habits and characters is evident in this cycle
as well as in other examples of Bernik’s art. Lately, Bernik’s
creative work is also frequently infi ltrated by his personal and
especially his medical condition; when you see him, the artist
usually comments on the latter with, As long as we are healthy!
But his physical pain undoubtedly carries with it some kind of
general meaning. At the same time, the typically unsentimental,
yet increasingly emotional artist (“Johan of Breznica”) has
introduced a hint of self-irony into his self-examinations, adding
to his drawings a gentle fi nishing touch in the form of droplets
of the soothing Blaufränkisch wine.
15

16
spominov. V njih je posebej pogosto tematiziran raznovrstno
pomenljiv dialog med moškim in žensko ali med človeško fi guro
in nepogrešljivimi poetičnimi ptički (ki se v resnici zbirajo na
krmilni plošči pod Bernikovim brezniškim ateljejskim oknom in
se z njimi umetnik dobro razume in jih ima rad). V ustvarjalčev
spomin pa se vse bolj vrivajo tudi misli na gunceljsko otroštvo
pod Šmarno goro, ko ga je klicala mama z besedami: Janez,
takoj domov ali Janez, večerjat.
Očitno je, da je pričel umetnik več kot prostodušno, bolj kot z
resignacijo z vse večjim humorjem in samoumevnostjo zarisovati
vse svoje miselne prebliske, načrte, spomeniške utopije in
družbene komentarje, na risbi z napisom Pouk risanja –
je ribolov kot akademijski profesor na primer tudi misel o
ribiču, ki ima srečo, če dobi v roke (oziroma na trnek) pravega
študenta. Táko dnevniško dokumentiranje in izpovedovanje
se mu nenehno dogaja noč in dan in se mu, kot v oživelih
ustvarjalnih sanjah, kar sámo vriva tudi v današnje linearne
risbe. Več kot zanesljiva roka mu vse te hipoma porojene zamisli
dojemljivo prestreza, sproti oživlja in usklaja (ter se morda
sama sebi čudi), medtem ko se z njo povezana umetnikova
zavest docela neprisiljeno predaja primarnemu risarskemu
impulzu, izrečenemu na Bernikov najosebnejši način. Svobodno
se mu prepušča v dopuščanju, naj traja, dokler traja, torej
dokler se ne izčrpa in sam po sebi ne izprazni ali spremeni.
Tudi skozi táko neposrednost risbe in prostodušno zaupanje
njenemu nagovarjanju pa je več kot razvidna vsa Bernikova
dotedanja risarska izkušnja, temelječa na nenehnem iskanju
in neprekosljivem znanju, s katerim se je umetnik, ki predobro
riše, nekoč celo zavestno »spopadel«, da bi ne zapadel v golo
virtuoznost, in je zato ponekod v resnici slikal celo z levo roko in
miže. V knjigo Črte pa je kot motto vključil trikotniško oziroma
piramidasto izoblikovano pesem Črta ter v njenem zadnjem,
temeljnem verzu risarsko črto izenačil z besedo in njenimi
raznolikimi pomeni: črta kot beseda seme pomenja krasi odkriva
in plaši ljubi in mori.
Poleg prevladujočih fi gur se v Bernikove nadaljnje risarske
dnevnike vrivajo tudi aluzije na posvečenost alpsko mogočne
gorenjske narave, v katero umetnik postavlja poleg gotskih
Križanj tudi svoja ustvarjalno zamišljena svetišča, in spomini
na kulturne spomenike slovenstva, oživeli v risbah zveriženo
konstrukcijskih, a jasno prepoznavnih zgodovinskih cerkva od
Sv. Marka v Prešernovi Vrbi in srednjeveške romanske Zgornje
Drage pri Stični ali gotskega Crngroba dalje. Z zapisanimi
besedili na nekaterih risbah, največkrat hudomušno grotesknimi,
pa je umetnik poleg stanj svojega notranjega življenja ter
človeških obsesij razkril tudi svoje poglede na estetiko, saj je
ponekod te risbe pol zares pol humorno tudi sam pokomentiral,
češ da so »čačkarije« resna stvar in da bi moral biti z baročnimi
It is in these intimate formats that Bernik’s imagination shines
through, expressed for instance in the grotesque, multiheaded
fi gures, reminiscent of something from a fantastical,
kaleidoscopic, Medieval maze. Life situations are depicted in
his drawings in the form of situational patterns, encompassing
stories of human solitude, creative endeavours, contemplation,
interpersonal relationships and the artist’s own memories.
Frequent themes include meaningful dialogues between man
and woman or between a human fi gure and the requisite
poetic birds (in real life, birds such as these gather around
the feeder under the window of Bernik’s studio in Breznica;
the artist loves them and gets along with them). The artist’s
memory is now often invaded with thoughts of his childhood
in Gunclje, at the foot of Šmarna gora, when his mother would
call him: Janez, come home right now, or Janez, dinner’s ready.
It is apparent that Bernik has begun to freely include in his
art – with increasing humour and self-evidence rather than
with resignation – every one of his thoughts, plans, utopian
monuments and social commentaries. His professorial nature,
for instance, shines through in the drawing entitled Teaching
Drawing – Is Fishing, illustrating the idea that a fi sherman
is fortunate if he gets the right student in his hands (or on
his hook). The artist is constantly experiencing this type of
expression and recording of thoughts; it is happening day
and night and, like a creative dream come true, it is invading
his most recent linear drawings. His reliable hand catches
every idea the moment it is born, bringing it to life (perhaps
astonishing even itself as it does so), while the artist’s
consciousness calmly devotes itself to his primary drawing
impulse, expressed in the most personal manner known to
him. He surrenders himself to this impulse, allowing it to last
for as long as it can, until the mysterious resource is exhausted
and emptied or altered in some other way. It is through this
directness of drawing, through this trusting confi dence in its
encouragement, that the wealth of Bernik’s drawing experience
really comes into its own. This experience is based on a
constant search, on unparalleled knowledge; the artist, able to
draw too well for his own liking, once consciously “attacked”
his own knowledge in order to prevent himself from ending up
as a mere virtuoso. Sometimes, he actually did paint with his
left hand and his eyes closed. As a sort of motto, Bernik’s book
Lines includes a pyramid-shaped poem entitled Line; in its fi nal,
crucial verse, the line of a drawing is equated with words and
the many meanings they carry: lines like words plant seeds of
meaning exposing and frightening loving and killing.
In addition to the pervasive fi gures, Bernik’s later drawing
diaries also include allusions to the sanctity of the magnifi cent
Alpine landscape of Gorenjska, which the artist has scattered
with Gothic crosses and creatively imagined temples. There are
also remembrances of Slovenian cultural monuments, brought
to life in drawings of distorted, yet clearly recognisable historical
churches from the church of St. Marko in Vrba – the home of

črticami, ki jih je vse preveč, bolj previden. Še posebej ironično
pa je skoznje razvidna kritika nekdanjega političnega režima,
katerega posledice vidi umetnik v idejno uniformiranih ljudeh
kot smešnih zadrtežih, zagledanih v idealizirano polpreteklost,
ki se mu razkriva kot zgodovinska groteska ali vse do danes
nadaljujoča se farsa. Vse bolj pa ga prevzema spoznanje in
zavedanje, da je resnično pomembno in smiselno le notranje
življenje, do kraja prepuščeno ustvarjalni svobodi. Zato sije iz
teh neobremenjeno razcvetenih risb tudi umetnikova kmečka
modrost, ki je ne ovirajo ne zunanja pričakovanja ne nepotrebni
nasveti morebitnih kuratorjev ne cenzure, ki bi jim bil lahko
Bernik kot z vseh strani opazovani in občudovani slikar podvržen,
ampak se njegova črta počuti kot znanilka do kraja svobodnega,
po zračni belini listov drsečega ali plešočega življenjskega utripa
in pomeni ustvarjalcu pravo in edino odrešitev.
Iz risb v knjigi Nočni dnevnik je razvidna polstoletna panorama
Bernikovega risarskega »razvoja«, ki nikakor ni preprosto
linearen, marveč se na poti naprej venomer vrača v lastno
bližnjo in daljno preteklost; knjiga Hvala, mama pa temelji na
časovno najnovejših linearnih risbah iz poglavja Ko bolečina
ne boli več v poprejšnji publikaciji ter posredno na njihovih
starejših predhodnicah, slikovito »razmršenih« perorisbah iz
sedemdesetih let 20. stoletja. Te malone fi ligransko pretanjene
drobne črtne risbe so mu nenadoma pomladno vzbrstele z
neštetimi poganjki, ki so pričeli rasti fi guram celo iz glav in
se mu vsepovsod razcvetati v prave rože ter frfotati tudi po
zraku kot metulji. Take poetično zvrtinčene peresno tanke
črte, črtice in pike so pognale po ozračju Bernikovih risb, po
obličjih in draperijah njegovih fi gur kot z botticellijevskega
travnika Bernikove notranjosti (in nad njimi se je Bernika
občudujoči Marijan Tršar tako navdušil, da jim je posvetil svoje
zadnje, predsmrtno besedilo, četudi se je bil pred tem odločil,
da ne bo več pisal). Nato pa se je ta razcvet nadaljeval in se
še vedno preraja, ponekod v pravcatih risarskih metežih, saj
umetniku linijski poganjki dobesedno pršijo kot cvetlični ali
zvezdni prah ali se mu vrtinčijo in pikčasto razblinjajo po risbah
kot roj žuželk in ščebet ptic in jih tako poživljajo s pomladnim
organskim življenjem, v katerem pa je v drobencljavih učinkih
ponekod razvidna tudi že kal nič manj estetsko žive krhko
prasketajoče jesenske dračevine oziroma prefi njeno razvejane
suhljadi. Umetnik je s tovrstnimi risbami bogato opremil
nekoliko spremenjeni ponatis svoje pesniške zbirke Nikogar
ni k večerji z novim, sproščujočim naslovom Kako velik je
dan, sčasoma pa se mu je krhko razcvetena risba ponekod
spet bolj monumentalno in arhitektonsko okrepila ali zjedrila
v poudarjeni osredotočenosti le na temeljne silhuetne obrise
in je danes z vsemi svojimi možnostmi – od redukcionistične
lapidarnosti do zvrtinčeno in vitičasto vzbrstele razigranosti –
odprta vsemu, kar obvladuje in obiskuje Bernikovo poetično
poet France Prešeren – and the Medieval Romanesque church
in Zgornja Draga near Stična to the Gothic church in Crngrob
and others. The inscriptions on some of the drawings are
often humorously grotesque, describing the artist’s inner life
and human obsessions as well as his views on the aesthetic:
on several of the drawings, he comments half-jokingly that
“doodles” are a serious thing and that he should be more
sparing with his many Baroque lines. The drawings also refl ect
the artist’s ironic criticism of the former political regime,
showing its consequences in the form of uniformed people,
ridiculous in their obstinacy, obsessed with an idealised image
of the recent past. Meanwhile, the artist reveals this past as a
historical grotesque or a farce continuing into the present day.
He is also becoming increasingly aware of the fact that the only
thing true and meaningful is inner life, infused through and
through with creative freedom. Consequently, these liberated,
blossoming drawings seem to glow with Bernik’s simple
wisdom, unencumbered by external expectations, superfl uous
advice from potential curators or censorship. As an admired
artist in the public eye, Bernik could well be subject to such
hindrances, but instead his line feels like a harbinger of life in
total freedom. Dancing and gliding around on the pure white
paper, the line represents the only real and true salvation for the
artist.
The drawings in Night Diary illustrate fi fty years of Bernik’s
development as a drawer. Rather than developing in a simple
linear manner, he kept returning to his immediate and distant
past before continuing the way forward. The book Thank You,
Mother collects Bernik’s most recent linear drawings based
directly on the chapter entitled When Pain No Longer Hurts
from his previous publication and based somewhat more
indirectly on the picturesquely messy pen and ink drawings he
created in the 1970s. These tiny drawings with their fi ligrees of
lines suddenly burst into spring, with countless shoots growing
even from people’s heads, blossoming into real fl owers and
fl ying through the air like butterfl ies. Poetically swirled, hairline
thin lines and dots suddenly appeared in Bernik’s drawings,
on the faces and clothes of his characters, as if springing from
a Botticellian meadow in Bernik’s soul. Marijan Tršar, a great
admirer of Bernik, was so inspired by them that he went back
on his decision to never write again and dedicated one fi nal
text before his death to Bernik’s lines and dots. The blossoming
continued and still lasts today, sometimes expressed in veritable
fl urries, with shoots of lines bursting from the artist’s pen like
pollen or stardust, swirling around his drawings and dotting
them like swarms of insects or birdsong. These elements infuse
Bernik’s drawings with the organic life of spring, but here and
there they are sprinkled with the fi rst signs of autumn, with
aesthetically crackling dry leaves and branches. The artist used
these types of drawings to illustrate the amended second
edition of his collection of poems previously entitled Nobody
Is Coming to Dinner but now bearing a new, friendlier title
of How Great the Day. His fragile, blossoming drawing style
17

18
in kritično zavest in podzavest. Vsaka njegova misel ali njen
utrinek in občutenje si lahko hipoma najde svojo ustrezno
formo in vsaka njegova forma si lahko odkrije svoj pravi pomen,
vse njihove kombinacije in povezave pa so tudi v največji
presenetljivosti vselej samoumevne, v likovnem prijemu enovite
in za današnjega Bernika več kot naravne. Janez Bernik se s
takim risanjem, ki ga, kadar ne more spati, včasih pokliče k delu
tudi sredi noči, odrešuje, tolaži, sprošča in razveseljuje ter ob
njem zbira fi zične moči za nove, prihodnje slikarske umetnine,
velike tudi po formatih.
***
Na prvi razstavi v novoustanovljeni galeriji ljubljanske Univerze
glede na umetnikov današnji dnevniško risarski razmah in
prostorske možnosti številčno prevladuje izbor takih najnovejših
risb, v katerih je spet več arhitektonike, pa tudi polno Bernikovih
značilnih miselnih situacij in domišljije, ki jo najbolj neposredno
ponazarjajo človeške postave s kozlovsko rogatimi in goveje
razpotegnjenimi obličji. V njih sta zajeta Bernikova misel in
čustveni izraz, sama risba pa je umetniku samodejen jezik, ki
ga izgovarja v svojem docela osebnem, že dodobra utrjenem, a
nikakor ne okostenelem, marveč gibko prilagodljivem linearnem
slogu.
Ta slog je krčevito prvinski, izrazen in zato zverižen, ponekod
do igrivo obarvane groteske. S takim jezikom pa umetnik
izraža ali le na videz deformira tudi lepotne ideale, še zlasti
svoj aristokratski pogled na krasotne ženske kot simbol lepote,
četudi so njihovi fi guralni obrisi bolj ali manj spačeni in zveriženi.
V tem pogledu je umetnik v gotiko zagledan in v Nemčiji sprejet
severnjak; a v pričujočih risbah je ta ekspresionizem ponekod
spet močno umirjen v bernikovsko klasiko in so zato njegove
ženske, kot je na risbi zapisal sam umetnik, »lepo grde«.
Klasično ital(ijan)sko umetnost ustvarjalec, ki je v nekdanjih
risbah učinkovito prerajal v svoj osebni izrazni jezik tudi slovesne
renesančne portrete, prav tako občuduje kot severnjaško, ker
njegov estetski svet nikakor ni enostransko zamejen. Marsikje
je v svojih najnovejših risarskih vzorcih pretkan tudi s cvetlično
lepotnim ornamentom secesije, iz katere se mu izvija ekspresija,
kot se je nekdaj Schieleju, sicer pa je usmerjen v sodobno
občutenje skozi ekspresionistični spomin na srednji vek s
prišiljenimi oblikami, ki so bile močno pri srcu že slovenskim
ekspresionistom, in se mu spreminjajo in razraščajo tako v
antropomorfne obrise in sestavine kot v oglato razčlenjene,
proti vrhu zožujoče se človeške piramide, če se zdi umetniku
potrebno, prostorsko oziroma perspektivično defi nirane tudi
v svoji linearnosti. V Nočnem dnevniku pa Bernik naseljuje in
udomačuje priostreno gorenjsko pokrajino ne le z umišljenimi
cerkvami, marveč s svojimi sicer zveriženimi klasičnimi,
eventually grew more monumental, focusing once again
on architectonic elements. Today, every aspect of it – from
reductionist conciseness to swirling, tendrilled playfulness – is
open to everything that dominates and permeates Bernik’s
poetic and critical conscious and subconscious. At any given
moment, his every thought and feeling will take on exactly the
right form and every form will fi nd its own true meaning; even
at their most surprising, the combinations and connections of
these forms are self-evident, united in their artistic style and
more than natural for the Bernik of today. Janez Bernik uses
these drawings – sometimes even at night, if he has trouble
sleeping – to redeem, console, relax and delight himself and to
gather fresh strength for future painting masterpieces, great in
the fi gurative and literal sense.
***
Considering the scope of the artist’s dairy drawings and
spatial limitations, the fi rst exhibition in the newly established
University of Ljubljana gallery offers a selection of Bernik’s
latest drawings that display many architectonic elements while
also focusing on mental situations and the imagination that
is so characteristic of the artist; it is perhaps most directly
represented in the human fi gures with goat horns and cattlelike
distorted faces. While the fi gures are symbolic of Bernik’s
thought and emotional expression, drawing in itself is an almost
automatic language for the artist – a language that is expressed
in a highly personal, well established linear style that is elastic
and fl exible rather than fossilised and stale.
This style is fi rmly primeval, expressive and sometimes distorted
to the extent that it becomes playfully grotesque. It is this
visual language that Bernik uses to express or seemingly to
deform ideals of beauty, particularly his own aristocratic view
of gorgeous women as symbols of beauty, even though their
outlines are more or less misshapen and deformed. It is this
Gothic aspect that makes Bernik beloved in Germany. In these
drawings, however, his expressionism is often less explicit, closer
to the classic Bernik; according to his own inscription on a
drawing, his women are “beautifully ugly.” Classic Italian (and
Italic) art is just as beloved by the artist as Northern art, which
indicates the broadness and open-mindedness of his aesthetic
world. In fact, in some of Bernik’s older drawings, he dealt
with ceremonial Renaissance portraits, giving them his own
expressive touch. Meanwhile, many of his later drawings are
reminiscent of Schiele in that they display beautiful Art Nouveau
fl oral ornaments with an expressive aspect. In general, however,
Bernik is focused on modern emotiveness, portrayed in the
expressionistic memories of the Middle Ages; he uses sharpened
shapes – earlier so beloved of the Slovenian Expressionists –
which transform and grow into anthropomorphic forms and
elements as well as into angularly segmented human pyramids,
their spatial properties and perspective defi ned in their linearity
whenever the artist thinks it necessary. In his Night Diary, Bernik

mediteranskimi arhitekturami obiskuje tudi Italijo oziroma
napoveduje obisk italijanske klasicistične Palladijeve vile (pa
tudi odhod na oddaljeno Japonsko) ter v risarskih formulacijah
vedno znova povezuje čvrsto arhitektoniko, poetično
izsanjanost in krčevito izraznost; tudi njegova najznačilnejša
svetišča z rozetami nad portali na fasadah pa so v osnovi prej
kot gotska usklajeno romanska ali s spevnimi volutami, ki na
fasadnih kulisah ponekod mehko ublažujejo njihovo stopničasto
priostreno bazilikalno konstrukcijo, tudi renesančna in baročna.
Tudi na teh najnovejših risbah se razmerja med ljudmi Berniku
najraje združujejo v univerzalen in osebno-družinski odnos
med moškim in žensko (na eni izmed njih – pod fi guro najbrž
duhovniškega moža v halji in z rožami v rokah – je razviden
napis: Pravijo, da je bil nesrečen v zakonu, kdo ve, če ni to
izgovor za njegove stvari). Usmerjajo se v humor in duhovitost,
ki ničkolikokrat temelji tudi na umetniku vselej nadvse ljubih
besednih igrah oziroma vanje zajetih skritih in dodatnih
pomenih, ki so Berniku od nekdaj zelo blizu. (Eden od njih,
zasidran v kulturnem spominu na humoristični časopis in
podkrepljen s slikarjevo zavestjo o njegovem lastnem humorju
ter pogosti navzočnosti ptičev, je zajet v besedah Čuk na palci.)
Iz starostne perspektive pa se danes Berniku tudi resnost
človeških iskanj, ki mu jih utelešajo veličastni modrijani s svojimi
nenavadnimi atributi, vse bolj izkazuje tudi kot groteska,
kot jalovo prizadevanje, ki pa ima za umetnika vselej izrazito
ustvarjalno osnovo in pomen, ter kot prešernovsko spoznanje,
da »smo brez dna polnili sode«. A tudi taka spoznanja Bernik
vse bolj ovija v odrešujoče sproščen in vserazumevajoč ter
odpuščajoč humor, zato so tudi visoka pokrivala njegovih
nekdanjih smrtno strogih svečenikov zdaj videti le še teatralne
kape vsakršnih kuharjev, ki nam absurdno začinjajo življenje ali
stopnjujejo njegovo plehkost; obenem pa so brezčasne draperije,
posebno hkrati asketske in v rimljanski dostojanstvenosti
razkošne halje in različne, z epoletami in našivki ter
potemnjenimi obrobami odlikovane tunike in uniforme ob vsej
duhovitosti in priložnosti za razčlenjevanje likovnega bogastva
tudi jasno pričevanje o umetnikovem pogledu, ki strmi na vse
tudi skozi slepoto zgodovine in zna ironizirati tudi majestetičnost
takih »kikel«, ne da bi jo ukinil, ampak vsemu vdihuje
večpomenskost oziroma ambivalentnost. Njegove celopostavne
mlade žene pa so ponekod videti kot koketno kostumirane
naivne princese iz pravljic ali z mladinskih odrov.
Z visokega piedestala sta v Bernikovem današnjem delu
ponekod spuščeni tudi njegova arhitektura in stroga
arhitektonika, posebej kvišku usmerjena stopnišča, ki umetniku,
zazrtemu v svet simbolov, simbolizirajo človekovo naporno
pot do cilja ali ponekod olimpijsko zmagovalnih stopnic, na
razstavljenih risbah pa so za postavo, ko se spušča po njih,
tames and enlivens the sharp Gorenjska landscape by adding
imaginary churches. Moreover, his distorted images of classical
Mediterranean architecture reference Italy, announcing a visit
to an Italian Classicist Palladian villa (as well as a detour to the
distant Japan). His drawing formulations repeatedly combine
fi rm architectonics, poetic reverie and strongly expressive
elements. His most characteristic temples, decorated with
rosettes above portals, are Romanesque rather than Gothic
in style; when their sharp basilica construction is softened by
elegant volutes on the façade, the style could even be described
as Renaissance or Baroque.
Even in his latest drawings, when dealing with human
relationships, Bernik tends to dwell on the universal, the personal
and familial relationship between man and woman (below his
drawing of a fi gure, likely a priest in a robe with fl owers in his
hands, this inscription can be read: They say that he had an
unhappy marriage; who knows, perhaps that is an excuse for
his matters). His drawings focus on humour and wittiness, often
based on the artist’s favourite – puns and their hidden or extra
meanings, which is something that Bernik has always been fond
of (One of them, fi rmly grounded in the cultural memory of a
comic paper and supported with the painter’s awareness of his
own humour and frequent depiction of birds, is captured in
the words Little owl on a stick.). From an old-age perspective,
Bernik now increasingly perceives even the seriousness of
human searching, embodied in majestic wise men with
unusual attributes, as a grotesque, fruitless endeavour – which
nevertheless carries a distinctive creative foundation and meaning
– and as a Prešeren-esque revelation that “we fi lled barrels with
no bottoms.” Bernik, however, increasingly shrouds even such
revelations in redemptive, relaxed, all-knowing and all-forgiving
humour. Even the tall hats on his priests, once so severe, now
seem like nothing more than theatrical caps of mediocre chefs
who serve to add the spice of absurdity to life or to increase its
vapidity. At the same time, the timeless cloths – robes that are
at once ascetic and opulent in their Roman dignity, tunics and
uniforms decorated with dark lining, epaulettes and chevrons – in
all their wittiness and artistic splendour clearly demonstrate the
artist’s vision. His eyes piercing through the blindness of history,
Bernik knows how to portray these “skirts” with irony without
eliminating their grandiose character; he simply infuses them
with ambivalence. Meanwhile, his drawings of young women
sometimes look like coquettishly dressed naïve princesses straight
from a fairytale or a children’s theatre.
In Bernik’s latest work, even his architecture and strict
architectonics sometimes come down from their high pedestal.
This is true of upward staircases in particular: the artist, with
his focus on the world of symbols, perceives them as symbolic
of the human struggle to reach the goal or sometimes as
victorious Olympic steps; but, on one of the exhibited drawings,
the stairs are no more than an everyday, practical obstacle for
the fi gure descending them. The artist’s commentary is simply:
19

20
s svojo višino le še vsakdanja praktična ovira, ki jo umetnik
komentira z besedami: Fonze, pazi na stopnice, te niso 19
cm. Sam Fonze na njih pa se s svojimi oglatimi pregibi, z
nogami in z roko, s katero je zakrilil kot plavalec pred skokom,
usklaja z oglatostjo stopnic in vzpostavlja z njimi enovito
likovno arhitektoniko, lahkotno zarezano v zračen prostor.
Tudi v fi ziognomijah vsaj nekaterih izmed teh postav lahko
nedvoumno ugledamo patriarhovsko markantno umetnikovo
nekoliko picassovsko obličje, posebej v preroško veličastnem
starcu v halji, zamišljeno sedečem na značilnem kvadru ali
slovesno vznemirjeno stopajočem z vzneseno izproženimi,
usodo sprejemajočimi rokami ali s palico v rokah; Bernikovo
življenjsko spoznanje: Zamaknjeno počivanje ni potrata, je
milost, pa nam lahko sporoča tudi manj majestetična postava.
Na samega Bernika, ki naj bi bil včasih celo samemu sebi
presedal, se nanaša tudi enigmatičen napis pod sugestivno
kristusovsko fi guro, stoječo v šolnih na robu oglatega
podstavka, z dvojnimi grabljami v dlaneh in ptičem na njih:
Kamorkoli napravim tisti B, je odveč. (Črko B v medaljonu, ki
nastopa na vseh teh risbah kot značilni umetnikov podpis, pa
je Bernik še večkrat postavil med besede na posebej pomenljivo
oziroma kontekstualno osmišljeno mesto.)
Umetnikove dostojanstvene kreature v častitljivih »kiklah« nosijo
v rokah tudi konkretna in hkrati simbolično pojmovana običajna
orodja, ki ne nakazujejo le zveze z zemljo in vsakdanjim delom,
marveč opozarjajo tudi na človeško grobost in rustikalnost
ter na čas, ki ga je obvladovala prvenstvena veljava krampa
in lopate. V tem znamenju ima na eni strani držala kramp in
na drugi lopato na primer do pasu razgaljeni možakar, ki ga
opogumlja podnapis: Gremo v napad, zadaj kramp, spredaj
lopata. Spet drugod pod tako »oboroženo« fi guro, pa tudi
pod bolj obredno spokojno postavo med svečami, preberemo
hudomušna modrovanja in »zglobalizirano« daljnosežna
geografska sporočila o »strateško« nenadnih krajevnih
premikih: Gradaščica teče v Črno morje – in naprej iz neviht
v Sorco in Dragonjo; S Kamčatke pridem jutri – se vidimo na
Viču; ali pa se fi guram palica v značilnih »coprnijah« slikarjevih
brezštevilnih metamorfoz spreminja v metaforično zavozlan
fantastičen preplet skrotovičenih geometrijskih oblik, se
rogovilasto razcveta v palmetno steblo, teatralno spreminja v
konstrukcijsko skulpturo ali oživi v zvedavo rogato kačo. Kadar
drži fi gura v rokah kar dve palici, pa se ji prva najraje z ročajem
zapleta v drugo.
Sámo črtovje se umetniku ponekod spremeni tudi v spomin na
nekdanje slikovito razpredene oziroma razsute pismenke, ki jih
je morda razbilo grobo kladivo v rokah fi gure; kladivo oziroma
macolo, likovno izenačeno s strupeno gobo, kakršnih sicer v
Bernikovem risarskem opusu ne manjka, pa umetnik izroča tudi
Be careful on these stairs, Fonze, they’re not 19 cm. Fonze, his
joints angular, his legs and arm waving like a swimmer about
to dive in, echoes the angular nature of the stairs and serves
as another element in the unifi ed artistic architectonics, lightly
cutting through the expansive space. The physiognomy of at
least some of the fi gures portrayed unquestionably refl ects the
patriarchal, striking, somewhat Picasso-esque face of the artist
himself; this is particularly true of the prophetically majestic old
man in a robe, sitting in contemplation on a characteristic block
of stone or walking solemnly with his arms grasping a staff or
reaching out in rapture towards his fate. However, Bernik’s life
revelation – “Enraptured rest is not a waste; it is a mercy” – can
also be communicated by a less majestic fi gure. The enigmatic
inscription below a suggestive, Christ-like fi gure standing in
shoes on the edge of an angular pedestal, holding a rake and a
bird, is related to Bernik (reportedly, he would sometimes feel
sick of himself): No matter where I put that B, it’s always too
much. (The letter B in a medallion is the artist’s characteristic
signature and is present in all of these drawings. He often
places it in the midst of words in a particularly meaningful or
contextually relevant position.)
Bernik’s dignifi ed creatures, dressed in stately “skirts”, carry
in their hands ordinary tools that are at once concrete and
symbolic, indicating not just a connection with the earth and
with everyday work but also reminding us of the rough, rustic
nature of humanity and of a time dominated by the primeval
pickaxe and shovel. In this spirit, a shirtless man carries a tool
with a pickaxe head on one side and shovel on the other;
he is spurred on by the inscription: Attack, pickaxe behind,
shovel in front. Elsewhere under a similarly “armed” fi gure,
as well as under a more ritualistic, relaxed fi gure surrounded
by candles, there are humorous ponderings and “globalised”
long-reaching geographical messages regarding “strategically”
sudden changes of location: The Gradaščica fl ows into the
Black Sea – and onwards out of storms and into the Sorca and
Dragonja; I’m back from Kamchatka tomorrow – see you in Vič.
Sometimes, Bernik’s fi gures hold staffs that go through a typical
magical metamorphosis, transforming into metaphorically
tangled, fantastical knots of deformed geometrical shapes,
growing into a palm tree trunk, theatrically transforming into
a constructional sculpture or coming to life as an inquisitive
horned snake. If a fi gure is holding two staffs, one of them is
likely to become entangled with the other.
Sometimes the lines themselves are transformed into memories
of the picturesquely scattered, broken letters, perhaps
demolished by a heavy hammer wielded by one of Bernik’s
fi gures; the artist sometimes puts a hammer or a mallet,
artistically equated with a poisonous mushroom (of which there
are plenty in Bernik’s opus of drawings), into the hands of
occasionally ruthless observers. They are free to use the hammer
on Bernik’s art, much like they used it – entirely unjustly – on
the artist himself in the past.

okam včasih neusmiljenih gledalcev, ki se lahko z njim znašajo
nad umetninami, tako kot so se docela po krivici tudi že nad
njim samim.
Vsa ta razmerja se v vedno novih kombinacijah in dopolnitvah
povezujejo v pričevanja in zgodbe ter v nizanje sentenc, ki jih
je umetnik deloma izpostavil že v obeh najnovejših risarskih
knjigah. Na razstavljenih, doslej še nepredstavljenih risbah pa
jih je še posebej zaznamoval, ko je po dve pokončni risbi z
lepilnim trakom provizorično povezal v podolžna t. i. dvojčka in
obe sestavini usmeril v medsebojen odnos. Prav ta medsebojna
razmerja, ki se med risbami sproti vzpostavljajo, pa umetnika
še posebej privlačijo, saj temeljijo izbor in knjižna soočenja
njegovih tovrstnih risb ravno na njihovi »kompoziciji«. Umetnika
pa značilno pritegujejo tudi razmerja, kakršna se vzpostavljajo
pod prsti njegovih danes redkih obiskovalcev, kadar dvigajo
risbe s kupov, razvrščenih po sto in sto listov, in jih med
ogledovanjem in izbiranjem premeščajo ter povezujejo v vedno
nove vsebinske oziroma likovne kontekste, v sklope, ki jim
potem celo sam avtor na novo prisluškuje in se jim začudi kot
tudi zanj novim »zgodbam«.
Taka razmerja predpostavljajo oblikovno usklajen likovni dialog,
posebej med ritmiziranostjo postav oziroma njihovih kretenj in
nagibov, ter pomenljivost vsebinskih relacij, posebno soočenja
moškega in ženske, »kuharja« in ptice, umetnika in stvaritve
ali še praznega platna ter gledalca in fi guralne umetnine,
ki se pred opazovalcem rada namrdne ali mu pogosto celo
predrzno pokaže jezik. Tudi če gre za navidez humorne
situacije, spominjajoče na satire ali stripovske karikature, ali
celo za bežne reakcije na opažanja iz banalne vsakdanjosti,
sama likovna zasnova teh praviloma vitkih ali z arhitektonsko
razčlenjeno draperijo obloženih postav vdihuje risbam likovno
monumentalnost in izraznost, ki jim dajeta status izrazitih,
četudi danes manj resnobno in eshatološko zavezujočih in
bolj sproščeno ter igrivo zamišljenih umetnin. Znotraj njihove
arhitektonske zasnove se umetnik osredotoča na markantna
obličja, ki se mu venomer prerajajo in vedno znova ponazarjajo
njegovo izjemno živo stvariteljsko predstavno moč, ter na
mojstrsko zgoščene preplete oglatih prstnih členkov na rokah
in na vedno znova gole noge, ki s svojimi velikimi romarskimi
podplati in v vselej mojstrskih različnih perspektivičnih
skrajšavah pogosto predstavljajo tektonska oporišča
raziskujočemu pogledu. V teh linijskih okvirih pa umetnik
likovno osnovo instinktivno, a hkrati premišljeno poživlja tudi
s slikovito risarsko strukturo, s prazninami in zgoščanjem črt
na draperijah in obličjih, posebno tistih z zmršenimi bradami
in košato razfrfotanimi lasmi, pa z intenzivnim črnjenjem in
vsakršnimi pikčastimi učinki ter krhkimi »čačkastami« prepleti in
vsakršno risarsko »podrastjo«, kar vse njegove postave oziroma
New combinations and complements are used to connect all of
these relationships into stories and sequences, something that
the artist has previously sometimes focused on in two of his
latest books of drawings. With the previously unseen drawings
in this exhibition, he has gone a step further, using adhesive
tape to improvise connections between pairs of drawings and
establish relationships between the themes portrayed. It is these
relationships that are established between various drawings at
any given moment that are especially attractive to the artist,
since the selection and positioning of the drawings in his books
are based on their “composition”. Bernik is also drawn to
the random relationships created by the infrequent visitors he
receives; picking up and selecting his drawings from piles of
hundreds and hundreds of pages; they stack and connect these
drawings into new substantive and artistic contexts, into sets
that the artist can look at with fresh eyes and wonder at all the
new stories they have to tell.
These relationships presuppose a formative coordination of the
artistic dialogue – especially between the rhythm of the fi gures
and their gestures and movements – and meaningfulness of
substantive relations, especially when it comes to confrontations
of man and woman, “cook” and bird, artist and creation, blank
canvas and observer or a fi gurative artwork that likes to frown
at observers and often even to stick its tongue out at them. Even
when it comes to apparently humorous situations, reminiscent of
satire or caricature, or where fl eeting reactions to observations
of banal quotidian life are concerned, the artistic design of
Bernik’s fi gures – usually slim or draped with architectonically
segmented fabric – infuses his drawings with a certain
monumental, expressive character. This gives the drawings the
status of distinctive artworks, even if they are less severe, less
eschatologically binding and more relaxed, more playfully pensive
than they used to be. Within the architectonic design of his
drawings, Bernik is focused on the striking faces that he always
comes back to and that continue to illustrate his extraordinary
powers of creation, on masterfully intertwined, angular fi nger
knuckles and on eternally bare legs, whose large pilgrim’s feet
and expertly shortened perspectives frequently serve as tectonic
bases for the observer’s investigating eyes. Within this linear
framework, the artist works at once instinctively and deliberately
to bring his drawings to life with picturesque structures, empty
spaces, masses of lines on clothes and faces, ruffl ed beards and
thick, dishevelled hair, intensively black spaces, dots of all kinds,
fragile knots of “doodles” and many other drawing elements –
anything that will breathe aesthetic life and a kind of shivering
inner restlessness into his fi gures and drawings. Meanwhile,
dates seem to have lost their importance for the artist, since he
has ceased to inscribe them on his drawings despite their diaristic
nature; in his solitude, he ignores any outside obligations, the
passing of time and calendars.
In addition to the selection of 24 pairs – i.e. 48 of Bernik’s
latest drawings – the exhibition also includes four of Bernik’s
21

22
risbe estetsko oživlja z dobesedno drhtečim notranjim nemirom.
Manj bistven pa je za umetnika, ki se v svoji samoti več ne ozira
na zunanje obveznosti ter na bežeči čas in koledarje, danes
videti vsakokraten datum, saj ga v te, četudi dnevniške risbe
praviloma več ne vpisuje oziroma ga izpušča.
Priložnostnemu izboru 24 takih risarskih »dvojčkov«, torej
48 Bernikovim najnovejšim risbam, so na razstavi dodane še
štiri desetletje starejše Bernikove slike: dve fi guralni in dve z
motiviko svetišč, ki ju ima umetnik sicer obešeni v ateljeju kot
tihi pričevalki svojega zamaknjenega ustvarjanja.
Obe svetišči sta značilen prototip idealnega duhovnega
prizorišča, ne konkretni, topografsko določljivi cerkvi. Ena
od bazilik sije v jutranji svetlobi in druga, temnejša, obdana
z zlato ožarjenimi oblaki kot svetniškimi nimbi, se medí v
mraku večera. V obeh se organsko razživlja Bernikov smisel
za arhitektoniko, saj sta izpeljani iz geometrijskih likov, a ne
mehanično sestavljenih, marveč gibko izrečenih s tekočo risbo
srčnega nemira, zaupljivo nagnjeni v poševno negotovost,
razprti v nadzemsko večnost in transcendentalno neznanost.
Na svetlejši cerkvi vidimo v portalu in pred njim zasajen križ
(številne sorodne Bernikove cerkve so na slikah obdane s
celimi pokopališči povešenih križev, med njimi v skladu z
imenom konkretneje razpoznavne ljubljanske Križanke, na
eni izmed takih risb z napisom Groza predvečerne svetlobe
pa so križi posuti tudi po nebu); cerkveno okrožje pa je hkrati
širokopotezno sklenjeno iz linij, ki asociirajo na človeško
postavo oziroma podobo duha z razprtimi rokami, segajočo
s kapuco v globino svetišča. V tem je razvidna vseoživljajoča
magija slikarjeve risbe, ki v nenehnih metamorfozah povezuje
arhitekturo in organsko naravo ter preraja eno v drugo, njegova
barvitost pa učinkuje z izrazno intenziteto in toplo prežarjenim
občutenjem, ki ne daje slikam nič manj izrazitega življenjskega
pečata kot risarska osnova, pa četudi je Bernik v temelju rojen
risar. Njegova slikarska občutljivost izžareva tudi že skozi sámo
bogato barvno plastenje slik, ki se v svoji barviti materiji vedno
na novo prebuja v spreminjajoči se svetlobi, umetnik pa barvno
življenje kot patinasto lisast razjeden mah, odrgnino ali barvni
lišaj presaja tudi na robove okvira slike, ki tako postaja sestavni
del likovne identitete njegovih umetnin.
Posvečenost, ki ju sliki utelešata in intenzivno izžarevata, je
odločilno znamenje celotne Bernikove ustvarjalnosti, še posebej
tiste po sredini devetdesetih let 20. stoletja, ter naraven odzven
kulturnega okolja, v katerem Bernik v tej svoji posvečenosti
ustvarja pod gorskimi pečinami v bližini Prešernove Vrbe in
Čopove Žirovnice, medtem ko je v mladosti rad zahajal med
nekdanje breze Sorškega polja v bližino Simona Jenka (ki se
mu je posvečal njegov studiozni brat akademik France Bernik),
paintings from a decade ago: two fi gurative paintings and two
paintings of temples that the artist normally keeps in his studio
as silent witnesses of his enraptured creativity.
Both temples are typical prototypes of the ideal spiritual setting
rather than concrete, existing churches. One of these basilicas
glows in the morning light, while the other is darker, with
illuminated golden clouds surrounding it like a halo, resting in
the evening dusk. Each of the temples is an organic expression
of Bernik’s sense of architectonics. The temples are executed
from geometrical shapes, but these shapes are not mechanically
assembled; rather, they are fl exibly represented in fl uid drawings
symbolic of a restless heart, standing trustingly tilted in slanted
uncertainty, torn between heavenly eternity and transcendental
ignorance. There is a cross on the portal of the lighter church
and another cross in front of it (many similar churches in Bernik’s
paintings are surrounded by graveyards full of sagging crosses;
one such church can be recognised as Križanke in Ljubljana,
while another drawing, entitled The Horror of Early Evening
Light, features crosses scattered even in the sky). The lines
depicting the church surroundings are reminiscent of a human
fi gure or a spirit with its arms wide open and its hood reaching
into the heart of the temple. This is emblematic of the allencompassing,
reviving magic of Bernik’s drawings: the endless
metamorphoses connect architecture with organic nature,
transforming one into the other. Bernik’s colour palette, on the
other hand, has an expressive intensity and a warm quality that
make his paintings seem no less alive than the sketches, despite
the fact that Bernik is at heart a drawer. His painter’s sensibility is
also evident from the rich layering of colours in his paintings; the
colourful matter is reborn again and again in the changing light.
Colours even spread out of the painting and on to its frame in
the form of ancient discoloured moss, abrasions or coloured
lichen, thus turning the frame into an integral part of the artistic
identity of Bernik’s masterpieces.
The sanctity that is embodied in and radiates so intensely from
these paintings is a defi ning mark of Bernik’s creativity throughout
his artistic career, but particularly in the mid-90s. It is also a
natural refl ection of the cultural milieu in which Bernik creates his
art: at the foot of majestic mountains near Prešeren’s Vrba and
near Žirovnica, the home of linguist Matija Čop. In his younger
years, Bernik was fond of visiting the birch trees on Sorško polje
near the birthplace of writer Simon Jenko (the artist’s scholarly
brother, academician France Bernik, focused on Jenko in his
studies), and he even drew up the architectonic design for the
chapel of St. John the Baptist on Sorško polje. Throughout his
life, Bernik has always perceived places and nature with a special
focus on their spiritual and historical aspects, on culture and art
and, consequently, on their spiritual sanctity. He would enhance
this sanctity with his own inner strength and project it on to his
fantasies of studio views full of yearning and hallucinations of
fl oating Mediterranean palm trees. It is simplifi ed versions of
palm trees that surround his bright temple, while the evening

zamislil pa si je tudi arhitektonski načrt za kapelo sv. Janeza
Krstnika na Sorškem polju. Kraje in naravo je vse življenje
dojemal zlasti skozi njihovo duhovnozgodovinsko pričevalnost,
skozi kulturo in umetnost, in s tem skozi njihovo duhovno
posvečenost; to posvečenost pa je prerajal iz lastne notranje
moči in jo projiciral tudi v sanje o ateljejskih pogledih, ki se
iztekajo v hrepenenjske južnjaške privide lebdečih mediteranskih
palm. Prav palme, spremenjene v poenostavljen znak, obdajajo
tudi njegovo svetlo svetišče, medtem ko mu večerno cerkev,
priraščajočo z arhitekturnega podija utrjeno zidanih kletnih
»sarkofagov«, na robovih obdaja magična piramidalna
arhitektonika značilnih Bernikovih »svetih gor«.
Od fi guralnih slik pa nam je umetnik prepustil enega od
svojih izrazitih iskateljev – tokrat ne umirjeno meditativnega
zamaknjenca, ampak predstavnika tiste človeške energičnosti,
ki se ne le prepušča višji milosti, marveč si v svojem iskanju
tudi sama krčevito prizadeva in dopoveduje, kaj mora doseči.
Skozi Berniku močno ljubo triado vzporednih vodoravnih
črt (ki deli zgornji rob slike na štiri temnejša polja ter v sebi
skriva tudi umetniku ljubo simbolno dojemanje svetih oziroma
zemeljskih števil) se vsega civilizacijskega in statusnega
razbremenjena, z nogami med ovire zagozdena postava v svoji
goli človečnosti krčevito napreza in izteguje roko s palico, s
katero želi vzpostaviti oziroma do kraja zarisati odrešilni krog
kot svojo notranjo popolnost in integriteto. Simbolične pregrade
predstavljajo Bernikovemu človeku ovire nad sinjim svetlim
prizoriščem življenjske »arene«, sama postava pa je v svoji
intenziteti tudi izrazito ekspresivno, če že ne krvavo rdeča, kot
bi bila mučeniško odrta, in je zato videti do kraja bolečinska.
Intenzivno razgibanemu moškemu na drugi sliki kontrastira
mogočna podoba spokojneje v fotelju sedeče ženske. Tudi
takemu, v osnovi reprezentativno tradicionalnemu portretnemu
motivu pa je zmogel dati Bernik izrazito poduhovljen pomen in
vanj vnesti močno notranjo razgibanost, že docela vzvibrirano
notranjo krčevitost. Figura je skozi umetnikov ekspresivni
pogled uzrta lepotica, vzvišena in duhovno prezentna prav (ali
tudi) v risarski zveriženosti, »lepi grdoti« ali ekspresivno »grdi
lepoti« svojega oglatega obličja, navzven z vdano spuščenimi
sklenjenimi rokami, a navznoter nespokojna, lucidno, če že
ne tudi zgroženo strmeča z velikimi prodornimi očmi, zazrta v
usodo in razgibana z ritmi risarskih sunkov, zveriženo ostrorobih
in mehkejših oblik. Pod resnobno tektoniko obličja je enako
arhitektonsko čvrsto skonstruirana tudi draperija, zgrajena iz
pravokotnih likov, nad značilni splet rok pa se dami naslanja
vzorec v obliki srca, ki se pleteniči tudi v ploskovnem »ozadju«
slike kot razcvet rožnih listov ali kot metuljasta krila za njenim
hrbtom. Skrivnostno intenzivna, v svojem miru vznemirjena, v
morda nekoliko nervozni vznemirjenosti aristokratsko spokojna
church, positioned on fortifi ed basement sarcophagi serving as an
architectural base, is surrounded by a range of magical pyramid
shapes – typical Bernik “sacred mountains”.
When it comes to fi gurative paintings, the artist has shared
with us one of his most expressive searchers. This time it is not
a man lost in the rapture of meditation but a representative
of the most energetic aspect of the human spirit; rather than
surrendering to a higher power, he persists on his search with
his mind fi rmly set on his goal. The fi gure, free of all aspects
of civilisation and status in its naked humanity, stands with its
feet wedged into the many obstacles. It is grasping a staff in
its hand and thrusting it through Bernik’s much liked trinity
of parallel horizontal lines (which divide the upper part of the
painting into four darker fi elds and conceal within them the
symbolic perception of sacred and earthly numbers so beloved
by the artist) in an attempt to draw a complete, redemptive
circle, symbolic of man’s inner perfection and integrity. For
Bernik’s fi gure, these symbolic barriers represent obstacles
around the bright, sky blue “arena” of life, while the fi gure
itself is distinctly expressive in its intensity and almost blood red
as if it had been fl ayed like a martyr, giving it the appearance of
a being suffused with pain.
The man caught in a moment of intense movement is
contrasted by the majestic image of the woman resting in an
armchair in the second painting. Although this is essentially
a representative, traditional motif in portraiture, Bernik was
able to infuse it with a distinctly spiritual meaning and give it
a strong inner dynamic, a vibrating inner intensity. The female
fi gure as seen through the expressive eyes of the artist is a
beauty, sublime and spiritually striking in her distortedness (or
perhaps in spite of it), in the “beautiful ugliness” or expressive
“ugly beauty” of her angular face. She sits in resignation with
her hands clasped in her lap, but inwardly she is restless, lucid,
almost horrifi ed, facing destiny with her large piercing eyes.
The rhythmic drawing, misshapen sharp edges and softer forms
give her a special vibrancy. Below the severe tectonics of the
face, the clothing is constructed with the same architectonic
fi rmness. The fabric is made up of rectangular shapes, and
there is a heart-shaped pattern leaning against the woman’s
intertwined hands, so characteristic of Bernik. The heart-shaped
pattern continues in the background of the painting in the
form of blooming petals or butterfl y wings behind the woman’s
back. The effect of mysterious intensity, agitated calmness and
aristocratic restfulness in a state of somewhat nervous alarm
is achieved through the duality of colours in the image: the
intermingling shades of green and pinkish violet are at their
most striking in the brightly accentuated, darkly traced lines
along the edges, where the colours intertwine picturesquely
and bend in lively arabesques.
This duality, fi lled with inner tension and constantly striving
to achieve synthesis, is present throughout Bernik’s entire
23

24
pa je podoba tudi v komorno barvitem dvospevu: v dvoglasnem
prepletu odtenkov zelene in rožnato vijolične barve, ki se
posebej slikovito prežemajo in skoraj arabeskno ukrivljajo v živo
okrepljenih in temneje izrisanih, posebej poudarjenih linijskih
obrobah.
Taka dvojnost, polna notranje napetosti in nenehno stremeča
k sintezi, je zajeta tudi v celotnem Bernikovem ustvarjalnem
opusu, v umetniškem duhovnem svetu, segajočem od
spokojnih, a hrepenenjskih samotnih ribiških otokov,
neobljudenih še predčloveških magem, arheološko starodavnih
svetišč ter nemirne sakralne arhitekture, ki se razrašča v
posvečeno naravo, do avtoportretnih bernikovskih iskalcev,
ki v svoji zbranosti zamaknjeno mirujejo ali še pogosteje
energično skačejo in si kot obsedeni prizadevajo za razkritje
zadnje skrivnosti, a se na današnjih intimnejših risbah hkrati
kritično in razigrano hudomušno posvečajo tudi še vsem
zmešnjavam, veseljem in zablodam kaotičnega človeškega
sveta. Notranja napetost pa sedanjim Bernikovim risarskim
fi guram s prav naravno neprisiljenostjo poganja iz obličij
v prerojeno pomladansko cvetje in jim krivenči atribute v
skrivnostne znanilce notranje intenzitete, v znamenju pričevanja
o umetnikovem notranjem nemiru in neomajnem ustvarjalnem
vztrajanju, ki se živo obnavlja kot Bernikov risarski življenjski
krvotok.
Vsa taka nenehna ustvarjalnost prirašča iz plodnega humusa
Bernikovega iščočega, nikoli pomirjenega duha, ki v luči
današnjega pogleda presoja tudi nekdanje, že dokončane
umetnikove slike, in zato jih Bernik tudi še pozneje dopolnjuje
in preslikava (nastajanje njegovega širokopotezno naslikanega
Svetišča na primer sega med leti 2001 in 2004). Tudi lastno, že
naslikano in v grafi ki celo izjedkano ter že podpisano delo mu
nikoli ni videti dokončano, nikoli do kraja pomirjeno in zares
dokončno, tako kot njegovim iskalcem in tako znanstvenemu
kot fi lozofskemu človeku nasploh ni nikoli dano, da bi enkrat in
za vselej dokončno spoznal bistvo in počelo vsega, kar poganja
svet v njegovo večno obnavljanje in večno umrljivost. A zato v
svojem delu nikakor ne odjenja, tako kakor nikakor ne odjenja
ustvarjalni Janez Bernik.
Skozi kreativni medij njegove izjemne roke se v brezniških jutrih,
dnevih in nočeh rojevajo in razraščajo nove in nove, navzven
drobne, a monumentalne linearne risbe, v katerih je živo zajet
ves slikarjev notranji in zunanji svet, ves njegov življenjski napon
in razpon, zgoščen v vse bolj lapidarno in bistveno risarsko
besedo, ki se mu iz usodne privrženosti umetnosti neutrudno
sama oglaša in razrašča iz vsakokratnih življenjskih stanj, sanj in
spoznanj kot žvrgolenje ptic in rast cvetlic. Vse take risbe so živ
izraz Bernikove stvariteljske pričujočnosti, njegove nenehne sle
creative oeuvre. It can be found in the artistic spiritual world
that encompasses restful and yearning lonely fi shing islands,
unpopulated prehistoric magma, archaeological ancient temples
and restless sacred architecture spreading out into the sanctity
of nature. It can be sensed in the self-portraits of Bernik-esque
searchers, who are either focused and calmly enraptured or
more often leaping energetically and struggling with a possessed
intensity to uncover the fi nal secret; in Bernik’s later and more
intimate drawings, these searchers tend to devote themselves
with an attitude that is at once critical and jocular to all the
confusion, joy and delusions of the chaotic world of humankind.
The fi gures in Bernik’s newest drawings allow their inner tension
to sprout from their faces with natural abandon, transforming
into spring fl owers and distorting the fi gures’ attributes into
mysterious symbols of inner intensity. This is emblematic of
the artist’s inner unrest and relentless creative persistence –
something that is in a state of constant renewal and serves as the
life blood of Bernik’s drawing.
All of this relentless creativity stems from the fertile soil of Bernik’s
searching, restless spirit, which drives the artist to return again and
again to paintings fi nished in the past and judge them from his
present standpoint. This has resulted in Bernik touching up and
altering his paintings (the large scale Temple painting, for instance,
continuously evolved from 2001 to 2004). He is never satisfi ed
that his own paintings or prints are ever entirely complete, even
after they have been signed as seemingly fi nished; he cannot
accept any version as truly fi nal, thus preventing his own searchers
as well as scientifi c or philosophical people in general from
learning once and for all the true essence and origin of what drives
the world onwards in this cycle of constant renewal and eternal
mortality. But that is what keeps the world going and what drives
the creativity of Janez Bernik so persistently.
In the mornings, days and nights of Breznica, endless drawings
are born and grow through the creative medium of Bernik’s
hand. These outwardly small, yet monumental linear drawings
vividly encompass the painter’s inner and outside world, his life’s
efforts and scope, condensed in an increasingly concise and
substantial drawing style. Originating from a fatal allegiance
to art, the artist’s drawing expression grows like birdsong and
fl owers, developing tirelessly from his life situations, dreams
and epiphanies. All of these drawings are living expressions of
Bernik’s creative presence, his undying desire to create order
from formlessness and to liberate his life from all dogmatic
limitations; they testify to the artist’s unspoken, poetically
metaphoric contemplation of humanity, the world and, above all,
the creative indestructibility that is spurred on so passionately by
Bernik’s eternal love of drawing – a love that (as the artist wrote
on one such drawing) “never goes to sleep”.
Milček Komelj

po urejanju brezobličnosti in hkratnem življenjskem osvobajanju
iz vsakršnih dogmatskih omejitev, so pričevanje o njegovem
nedeklarativnem, pesniško metaforičnem razmišljanju o človeku
in svetu ter predvsem o ustvarjalni neuničljivosti, ki jo strastno
podžiga Bernikova večnostna risarska ljubezen: ljubezen, ki (kot
je umetnik zapisal na eno izmed takih risb) »ne hodi spat«.
Milček Komelj
25

26
27. 6. 89, akril na platnu, 27. VI. 1989, 150 x 130,5 cm
27. 6. 89, acrylic on canvas, 27 Jun 1989, 150 x 130.5 cm

3. 12. 96, akril na platnu, 3. XII.1996, slika 160 x 130 cm,
z okvirom 187, 5 x 158 cm
3. 12. 96, acrylic on canvas, 3 Dec 1996, canvas 160 x 130 cm,
with frame 187.5 x 158 cm
29

30
Svetišče, akril na platnu, 23. X. 2001 – 13. I. 2004, slika 48,5 x 61,5 cm,
z okvirom 86,5 x 90 cm
Temple, acrylic on canvas, 23 Oct 2001 – 13 Jan 2004, canvas 48.5 x 61.5 cm,
with frame 86.5 x 90 cm

7. 12. 04, akril na platnu, 7. XII. 2004, slika 52 x 74 cm,
z okvirom 79,8 x 102 cm
7. 12. 04, acrylic on canvas, 7 Dec 2004, canvas 52 x 74 cm,
with frame 79.8 x 102 cm
31

24 dvojnih nenaslovljenih in nedatiranih perorisb s kemičnim svinčnikom,
29,5 x 42 cm, od 2011 do 2012
24 double untitled and undated pen and ink drawings, ballpoint pen,
29.5 x 42 cm, from 2011 to 2012
37

Podatki o umetniku in njegovem delu About the Artist and His Work
Janez Bernik je bil rojen 6. septembra 1933 v Guncljah pri Ljubljani. Na
pobudo profesorjev je že po tretjem letniku srednje Šole za umetno
obrt (poznejše Šole za oblikovanje) opravil sprejemni izpit za likovno
akademijo. Med letoma 1951 in 1955 je študiral na Akademiji za
upodabljajočo umetnost v Ljubljani, kjer je diplomiral iz slikarstva pri
prof. Maksimu Sedeju, zatem pa je do leta 1958 pri njem obiskoval
še specialko za slikarstvo ter specialko za grafi ko pri prof. Božidarju
Jakcu. Leta 1959 se je izpopolnjeval v grafi čnem ateljeju Johnnyja
Friedlaenderja v Parizu. Od 1970 do 1996 je poučeval na ljubljanski
Akademiji za likovno umetnost, od leta 1979 kot redni profesor.
Leta 1998 mu je Univerza v Ljubljani podelila častni naziv zaslužni
profesor in 1998 zlato plaketo za pedagoško delo. Leta 1989 je bil
izvoljen za izrednega in 1993 za rednega člana Slovenske akademije
znanosti in umetnosti, leta 1994 za zunanjega dopisnega člana
Nacionalne akademije sv. Luka v Rimu in 1996 za rednega člana
Evropske akademije znanosti in umetnosti v Salzburgu. Leta 2003 ga
je predsednik države dr. Janez Drnovšek odlikoval z zlatim častnim
znakom svobode Republike Slovenije.
Živi in ustvarja v Breznici pri Žirovnici na Gorenjskem.
Bernik se posveča slikarstvu, grafi ki, knjižnemu in grafi čnemu
oblikovanju, ilustraciji, tapiserijam, opremi interierov, scenografi ji
(sodeloval je predvsem z avantgardnim Odrom 57) in pesnjenju. Imel
je prek 70 samostojnih razstav po vsem svetu, sodeloval je v dolgi
vrsti skupinskih razstav, njegovo delo ves čas spremljajo obsežni
študijski in kritiški zapisi, nazadnje v izboru dokumentirani leta 2005
v dokumentacijskem delu kataloga njegove velike pregledne razstave
v ljubljanski Moderni galeriji. Izdal je več samostojnih grafi čnih map,
predstavljen je v vrsti razstavnih katalogov (npr. ob samostojnih
razstavah v Düsseldorfu, Kölnu, Ljubljani, Nürnbergu, Celovcu in ob
umetnikovi predstavitvi na bienalu v Benetkah) in monografi jah (1966
je izšla knjiga Janez Bernik z besedilom Zorana Kržišnika, 1977 Črte
– Crte – die Linien – Lines z besediloma Zorana Kržišnika in Jureta
Mikuža, 1980 monografi ja Janez Bernik z besedili več avtorjev: Ronalda
Alleya, Giulia Carla Argana, Jožeta Ciuhe, Gilla Dorfl esa, Zorana
Kržišnika, Jureta Mikuža, Miodraga B. Protića, Jirˇija Siblika in Rudija
Šeliga (1984 delno predelana tudi v srbohrvaškem in angleškem jeziku),
1993 knjiga Janez Bernik. Jedkanice in akvatinte z besedilom Milčka
Komelja, 2002 Janez Bernik, Samote z besedili Nika Grafenauerja,
Tineta Hribarja in Milčka Komelja, 2008 Janez Bernik, Slikarjeva hiša z
besedili Brede Ilich Klančnik, Miklavža Komelja, Tineta Hribarja, Draga
Jančarja in Naceta Šumija, 2010 Nočni dnevnik in 2011 Hvala, mama,
oboje z besedilom Milčka Komelja). Je tudi avtor pesniških zbirk (ciklus
Triptih, objavljen 1985 v razstavnem katalogu Moderne galerije, 2008
Nikogar ni k večerji, 2010 Kako velik je dan). O Berniku je bilo posnetih
več fi lmskih prikazov in televizijskih oddaj, med njimi leta 1971 Janez
Bernik. Eine optische Monographie avtorja Dietricha Mahlowa, 1992
celovečerni Umetniški večer z Janezom Bernikom scenarista Jožeta
Hudečka in režiserja Filipa Robarja Dorina in leta 2005 ob umetnikovi
veliki pregledni razstavi v ljubljanski Moderni galeriji video Molčeča usta
avtorice Nataše Prosenc.
Umetnik je prejel za vrhunska dela na svetovnih razstavah vrsto
pomembnih nagrad in več nagrad za življenjsko delo, med njimi
nagrado za grafi ko v Luganu, zlato medaljo za slikarstvo v Riminiju,
Janez Bernik was born on 6 September 1933 in Gunclje near Ljubljana.
Encouraged by his teachers, he passed the entrance examination for
the Academy of Fine Arts after fi nishing his third year at the upper
secondary School of Arts and Crafts (later School of Design). From
1951 to 1955, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana,
graduating in Painting under Prof. Maksim Sedej. Until 1958, he
attended a specialist postgraduate Painting programme under Prof.
Sedej and a specialist postgraduate Printmaking programme under
Prof. Božidar Jakac. During 1959, he trained at Johnny Friedlaender’s
printmaking studio in Paris. From 1970 to 1996, he taught at the
Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, where he was made Professor in
1979. In 1998, he was awarded the honorary title Professor Emeritus
and received a golden plaque for his teaching work at the University
of Ljubljana. In 1989, he was elected an associate member of the
Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and was made a full member
in 1993. In 1994, he became an associate corresponding member
of the National Academy of St. Luke in Rome, and in 1996 he was
appointed a full member of the European Academy of Sciences and
Arts in Salzburg. In 2003, he was awarded the Golden Order of
Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia by President Janez Drnovšek.
Janez Bernik lives and works in Breznica near Žirovnica in the
Gorenjska region.
Bernik works in painting, printmaking, book and graphic design,
illustration, tapestry work, interior design, set design (he has
collaborated mainly with the avant-garde Oder 57 group) and poetry.
As well as participating in countless group exhibitions, he has had
more than 70 solo exhibitions throughout the world. Bernik’s work
has always been discussed in extensive studies and critical texts,
a selection of which was compiled in 2005 in the catalogue that
accompanied a major retrospective exhibition of his art at Ljubljana’s
Moderna galerija. Bernik has published several printmaking portfolios
and has been included in a number of exhibition catalogues (e.g. for
his solo exhibitions in Düsseldorf, Cologne, Ljubljana, Nuremberg
and Klagenfurt and for his participation at the Venice Biennale) and
monographs (the book Janez Bernik with text by Zoran Kržišnik was
published in 1966, Črte – Crte – die Linien – Lines with text by Zoran
Kržišnik and Jure Mikuž in 1977, the monograph Janez Bernik was
published in 1980 and comprised texts by several authors: Ronald
Alley, Giulio Carlo Argan, Jože Ciuha, Gillo Dorfl es, Zoran Kržišnik,
Jure Mikuž, Miodrag B. Protić, Jirˇi Siblik and Rudi Šeligo (in 1984,
this book was partly translated into Serbo-Croatian and English), the
book Janez Bernik. Etchings and Aquatints with text by Milček Komelj
was published in 1993, Janez Bernik, Solitudes with text by Niko
Grafenauer, Tine Hribar and Milček Komelj was published in 2002,
Janez Bernik, The Painter’s House with text by Breda Ilich Klančnik,
Miklavž Komelj, Tine Hribar, Drago Jančar and Nace Šumi was
published in 2008 and 2010, and 2011 saw the publication of Night
Journal and Thank You, Mother respectively, both with text by Milček
Komelj). Janez Bernik has also written several collections of poetry
(the Triptych cycle was published in 1985 in an exhibition catalogue
by Moderna galerija, Nobody Is Coming to Dinner was published in
2008 and How Great the Day in 2010). Bernik has been the subject of
several documentaries and television shows, including Janez Bernik.
Eine optische Monographie by Dietrich Mahlow in 1971, the feature-
69

70
nagrado za slikarstvo v Benetkah in San Marinu, glavno nagrado za
grafi ko na bienalih v São Paulu, Tokiu, Seulu, Ljubljani, Frechenu
in Novem mestu, častno nagrado na grafi čnem bienalu v Varšavi in
Benetkah, Jakopičevo, Prešernovo in Herderjevo nagrado ter tudi
nagrade za oblikovanje svojih monografi j.
Bernikovo delo je zastopano v številnih slovenskih in tujih javnih
zbirkah: v Ajdovščini (Pilonova galerija), Amsterdamu (Zbirka Peter
Stuyvesant), Benetkah (Museo d'Arte Moderna Ca' Pesaro), Beogradu
(Muzej savremene umetnosti, Galerija Grafi čki kolektiv), Beverly Hillsu
(Chomsky Gallery), Bremnu (Kunsthalle), na Brniku (Likovna zbirka
Aerodrom Ljubljana), v Buenos Airesu (Museo del Arte Moderno),
Cetinju (Umjetnički muzej SR Crne Gore), Cincinnatiju (Cincinnati
Art Museum), Carvallisu (Oregon State University), na Dunaju
(Graphische Sammlung Albertina), v Idriji (Mestni muzej), Kranju
(Galerija Prešernovih nagrajencev), Lazarevcu (Moderna galerija),
Ljubljani (Moderna galerija, Mednarodni grafi čni likovni center, Zbirka
Akademije za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje, Umetniška zbirka
Avtocommerce, Nova ljubljanska banka, zbirka SAZU Zakladi slovenske
grafi ke 1955-2005), Londonu (New London Gallery, Tate Gallery),
Mariboru (Umetnostna galerija), Metliki (Galerija Kambič), Montrealu
(Musée d'art contemporain de Montreal), Novem mestu (Likovna
zbirka Krke), Nürnbergu (Kunsthalle), Oaklandu (California College
of Arts and Crafts), Osaki (University of the Arts), Parizu (Cabinet des
Estampes, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris), Piranu (Likovna
zbirka Bernardin), Pragi (Narodni galerie), Prištini (Galerija umetnosti),
na Reki (Muzej moderne i suvremene umjetnosti), v Riu de Janeiru
(Museu de Arte Moderna), Rimu (Galleria nazionale d' arte moderna),
San Franciscu (Museum of Art, Golden Gate University), São Paulu
(Museu de Arte Moderna), Saulgauu (Galerie und Verlag Aras), Skopju
(Muzej na savremenata umetnost, Umjetnička galerija), Splitu (Galerija
umjetnina), Stockholmu (Moderna Museet), Tokiu (Franell Gallery,
National Museum of Western Art), Varšavi (Muzeum Narodowe),
Velenju (Galerija Velenje), Washingtonu (The Library of Congress)
in Zagrebu (Muzej suvremene umjetnosti, Kabinet grafi ke Hrvatske
akademije znanosti i umjetnosti).
length An Artistic Evening with Janez Bernik written by Jože Hudeček
and directed by Filip Robar Dorin in 1992, and the video Silent Mouth
by Nataša Prosenc, made in 2005 for the major retrospective exhibition
of Bernik’s art at Ljubljana’s Moderna galerija.
The excellence of Bernik’s work at various international exhibitions has
been recognised by a number of important awards and several life
achievement awards, including an award for printmaking in Lugano,
gold medal for painting in Rimini, awards for painting in Venice and
San Marino, top awards for printmaking at biennales in São Paulo,
Tokyo, Seoul, Ljubljana, Frechen and Novo mesto, honorary awards at
printmaking biennales in Warsaw and Venice, the Jakopič Award, the
Prešeren Award, the Herder Award and several design awards for his
monographs.
Bernik’s work is represented in countless public collections in Slovenia
and abroad: in Ajdovščina (Pilon Gallery), Amsterdam (Peter Stuyvesant
Collection), Belgrade (Muzej savremene umetnosti, Galerija Grafi čki
kolektiv), Beverly Hills (Chomsky Gallery), Bremen (Kunsthalle), Brnik
(Aerodrom Ljubljana Fine Art Collection), Buenos Aires (Museo del
Arte Moderno), Cetinje (Umjetnički muzej SR Crne Gore), Cincinnati
(Cincinnati Art Museum), Corvallis (Oregon State University), Idrija
(Municipal Museum), Kranj (Gallery of Prešeren Award Winners),
Lazarevac (Moderna galerija), Ljubljana (Moderna galerija, International
Centre of Graphic Arts, Academy of Fine Arts and Design Collection,
Avtocommerce Art Collection, Nova ljubljanska banka, SASA collection
Treasures of Slovenian Printmaking 1955-2005), London (New London
Gallery, Tate Gallery), Maribor (Maribor Art Gallery), Metlika (Kambič
Gallery), Montreal (Musée d’art contemporain de Montreal), Novo
mesto (Krka Fine Art Collection), Nuremberg (Kunsthalle), Oakland
(California College of Arts and Crafts), Osaka (University of the Arts),
Paris (Cabinet des Estampes, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris),
Piran (Bernardin Fine Art Collection), Prague (Narodni galerie), Pristina
(Art Gallery), Rijeka (Muzej moderne i suvremene umjetnosti), Rio de
Janeiro (Museu de Arte Moderna), Rome (Galleria nazionale d’ arte
moderna), San Francisco (Museum of Art, Golden Gate University), São
Paulo (Museu de Arte Moderna), Saulgau (Galerie und Verlag Aras),
Skopje (Muzej na savremenata umetnost, Umjetnička galerija), Split
(Galerija umjetnina), Stockholm (Moderna Museet), Tokyo (Franell
Gallery, National Museum of Western Art), Velenje (Velenje Gallery),
Venice (Museo d’Arte Moderna Ca’ Pesaro), Vienna (Graphische
Sammlung Albertina), Warsaw (Muzeum Narodowe), Washington
(Library of Congress) and Zagreb (Muzej suvremene umjetnosti,
Kabinet grafi ke Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti).

Izdajateljica Univerza v Ljubljani, Kongresni trg 12, Ljubljana
Publisher University of Ljubljana, Kongresni trg 12, Ljubljana
Za izdajateljico rektor prof. dr. Radovan Stanislav Pejovnik
For the publisher Rector of the University, Prof. Dr. Radovan Stanislav Pejovnik
Organizator razstave Galerijski svet Galerije Univerze v Ljubljani,
Kongresni trg 12, Ljubljana
Exhibition Organiser Gallery Counsil of the University of Ljubljana Gallery,
Kongresni trg 12, Ljubljana
Za organizatorja Miroslav Birk, univ. dipl. pravnik, pomočnik rektorja UL,
in prof. dr. Jožef Muhovič, predsednik Galerijskega sveta
For organiser Miroslav Birk, LL. B., Assistant to the Rector of the UL,
and Prof. Dr. Jožef Muhovič, Gallery Council President
Uredniki prof. dr. Milček Komelj, izr. član SAZU, prof. dr. Jožef Muhovič,
prof. mag. Branko Suhy
Editors Acad. Prof. Dr. Milček Komelj, Prof. Dr. Jožef Muhovič,
Prof. Mag. Branko Suhy
Postavitev razstave prof. dr. Milček Komelj, izr. član SAZU, prof. dr. Jožef Muhovič,
prof. mag. Branko Suhy
Exhibition Installation Acad. Prof. Dr. Milček Komelj, Prof. Dr. Jožef Muhovič,
Prof. Mag. Branko Suhy
Komuniciranje z javnostmi Gregor Jagodič
Public communacations Gregor Jagodič
Arhitekturna ureditev razstavnega prostora Miha Bratina, Aleksander Polanko, Špela Glavač, Urša Ješe
(mentor: prof. mag. Peter Gabrijelčič, Fakulteta za arhitekturo UL)
Arhitectural organisation of the exhibition space Miha Bratina, Aleksander Polanko, Špela Glavač, Urša Ješe
(mentor: Prof. Mag. Peter Gabrijelčič, Faculty of Architecture, UL)
Izvedba ureditve razstavnega prostora Aljošin (Aljoša Lozej s. p.) in Eltibo d.o.o.
Execution of the organisation of the exhibition space Aljošin (Aljoša Lozej s. p.) in Eltibo d.o.o.
Prevod Alkemist, d. o. o.
Translation Alkemist, d. o. o.
Lektorica Nada Šumi
Editing and proofreading Nada Šumi
Fotograf Miha Benedičič
Photographer Miha Benedičič
Izdelava barvnih izvlečkov Tiskarna Schwarz, Ljubljana
Execution of colour extracts Tiskarna Schwarz, Ljubljana
Grafi čni oblikovalec prof. Peter Skalar
Graphic designer Prof. Peter Skalar
Tisk Mat-Format, Ljubljana
Printed by Mat-Format, Ljubljana
Naklada 500 izvodov
Print run 500 copies
© Copyright Univerza v Ljubljani, Kongresni trg 12, Ljubljana
University of Ljubljana, Kongresni trg 12, Ljubljana