Presentation of Nikola Ukić’s monograph “About the Sense of Possibilities” at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
24.2.–24.2.2026.
On Tuesday, February 24, at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, in the artist talk format Nachtfoyer Spezial, MMSU will take part in the presentation of the newly published, extensive, and richly illustrated monograph of Nikola Ukić, an internationally recognized artist from Rijeka who is based in Düsseldorf.
Titled About the Sense of Possibilities and published trilingually in English with German and Croatian translations, the monograph is a joint publication of MMSU and Snoeck, with Snoeck responsible for the book’s international distribution. Richly illustrated with photographs, the 176-page monograph brings together four texts by Rolf Hengesbach, Sabina Salamon, Thorsten Schneider, and Vladimir Vidmar, offering an overview of Ukić’s practice in contemporary sculpture and installation. The monograph was designed by Damir Gamulin Gamba and edited by Sabina Salamon.
The monograph reflects the continuity of collaboration between the artist Nikola Ukić and the Museum, as well as his sustained presence in Rijeka and Croatia. It builds on the Museum’s long-standing interest in the artist following the realization of his solo exhibition Make a Wish at MMSU in 2023.
The publication was produced with the financial support of Stiftung Kunstfonds (Bonn), Adris grupa (Rovinj), and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.
Nikola Ukić (Rijeka, 1974) began his artistic education in Rijeka at the former Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Visual Arts. He continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb from 1995 to 1999, and from 2000 to 2004 at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he graduated in the class of Georg Herold. He has been living in Düsseldorf for more than twenty years.
Ukić’s work ranges from ephemeral installations and site-specific sculptures to digital prints, video, and performance. His artistic practice focuses on questioning sculptural strategies and exploring traditional display formats and modernist protocols. He engages with interactions between authenticity and fiction, the essential and the marginal, and places particular emphasis on issues of cultural translation.
He has participated in numerous exhibitions and is the recipient of several grants and residencies. Since 2024, he has been a professor in the Department of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Dortmund.