The artist
Painter and graphic artist Tomo Vran was born on 29 December 1946 in Ljubljana, but he has lived in Koper since he was a child. He studied painting and graphic arts at the Ljubjana Academy of Fine Arts with Professors Maksim Sedej, Gabrijel Stupica and Riko Debenjak. He graduated in 1972 with Professor Pogačnik. For two years he taught history of art at the Slovenian and Italian grammar schools in Koper and Piran and was the Manager of the Department of Industrial Design at the Institute Tomos in Koper for six years. Since 1980 he has been working as a free-lance artist.
He has been a member of the Association of Slovene Fine Artists since 1972 and the Commissioner of Intart since 1989. He was a member of the Council of Culture with the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for two years, and this year he was elected the President of the Slovene Chamber of Culture. On European scale he was this year elected a Vice President of European Council of Artists. This year he is also the chairman of Lions Club Koper – Capodistria.
He had his first solo exhibition in Trieste in 1981. So far he has had approximately sixty solo exhibtions in Slovenia, Italy, Austria and Germany, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad. He has been awarded several prizes.