Nikola Ukić

Nikola Ukic’s artistic practice spans a multimedia spectrum of expression, ranging from ephemeral installations and autonomous sculptures to digital graphics and performative interventions. At the heart of his work lies a critical questioning and reinterpretation of sculptural strategies. His pieces address contemporary discourses such as the crisis of a coherent bodily experience, the relationship between authenticity and fiction, and the tension between the essential and the marginal. By reconfiguring spatial boundaries, Ukic’s works point to processes of hybridization, transformation, and stagnation, offering viewers the opportunity to enter a state of ambivalence—one in which they are prompted to reexamine their assumptions about materials and their use, and to embrace new conceptual possibilities.

Works

Nikola Ukić, Fugue 2023
Installation view: Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka
Concrete, reinforcing steel, styrofoam, wood, PVC pipes, electric motors, electronics, motion sensors, 770 x 725 x 17 cm
Photo: Hrvoje Franjc

I don`t know him anymore, me neither 2022
Polyurethane, metal wire, pigment, printing ink, 54 × 170 × 45 cm

You, you, you, I, II 2021
Found bubble wrap used for art packaging, various adhesive tapes with markings from art transport and shipping companies
Dimensions: 166 × 149 cm, 194 × 150 cm, Photo: Hrvoje Franjic

WENN 2020
Glass blocks, aluminum tubes, pure acrylic adhesive tape, 570 × 97 × 183 cm
Performance

WENN 2020
Performance duration: 25 minutes, Performers: Thea Henken and Bastian Buddenbrock

003 Untitled 2019
UV printing ink, aluminum plate, polyurethane resin, 50 x 52 cm, photo: Achim Kukulies

Nikola Ukić, Untitled (Ducts) 2022
Air hoses, concrete, wood, installation view, 20 x 82 x 174 cm, 15 x 74 x 177 cm, detail view, photo: Hrvoje Franjic

Form follows 2015
Installation view: PAEC Freiburg, polyurethane, pigment, earth, UV printing ink

Form follows I 2015
Polyurethane, pigment, earth, UV printing ink, 100 x 110 x 115 cm

Form follows II 2015
Polyurethane, pigment, earth, UV printing ink, 100 x 110 x 176 cm

006 Nikola Ukić, Splits 2007-2021
A group of 20 works, acrylic blobs on old catalogue pages, disassembled and reassembled with two different halves, framed dimensions: 40 x 52.5 cm, photo: Hrvoje Franjic

Blow up, 2015
Schloss Borbeck, Essen

Ohne Titel, 2015, Polyurethane, pigment, earth, UV print, 130 x 130 x 150 cm

Ohne Titel, 2015, Polyurethane, pigment, earth, UV print, 120 x 140 x 140 cm

Memory of Forms, 2010
Installationview, Hengesbach Gallery, Berlin

Memory of Forms I, 2010
Polyurethane, pigment, UV printing ink, 245 x 133 x 100 cm

Memory of Forms II, 2010
Polyurethane, pigment, UV printing ink, 250 x 160 x 85 cm

Biography

Born 1974 in Rijeka (HR), lives and works in Düsseldorf (D)
1993–1994 Faculty of Philosophy, University of Rijeka, Art Department (HR)
1995–1999 Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, Department of Painting (HR)
2000–2004 Academy of Fine Arts Düsseldorf / Prof. G. Herold
2017–2019 Lectureship at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
2019–2020 Lectureship, Department of Art, University of Siegen
2021–2024 Research associate for Design and Design Theory, Department of Architecture, University of Siegen
Since 2024 Professorship for Sculpture, Technical University of Dortmund

Awards / Scholarships

2002-2003 Cité Internationales des Arts, Paris (F)
2007 New Talents, Art Cologne
2011 NRW-Grant, Schloss Ringenberg (D)
2012 Special award the XI Triennal of Croatian Sculpture, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb
2014 Nachwuchspreis Kunststiftung NRW (Project)
2015 Award for best Video Smuggling Anthologies
2017 Stiftung Kunstfonds, Work Grant
2022 Short list, Landsberg-Preis, Düsseldorf
2024 Stiftung Kunstfonds, Publikation

Solo-Exhibitions

2024 “Make a Wish”, Galerie Waldinger, Osijek (HR)
2023 “Make a Wish”, MMSU – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka (HR)
2019 “schweben“, Hengesbach Gallery, Wuppertal (D)
2015 „Blow up (Findlinge)“, Städische Galerie Schloss Borbeck, Essen (D); „Form folgt“, Kunstraum Alexander Bürkle, Freiburg (D)
2014 „Expanded Fields“, Hengesbach Gallery, Wuppertal (D)
2013 »Riss« – (Disruption), Hengesbach Gallery, Berlin (D); „Nikola Ukic. Projective Cast“, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb (HR); „One on One“ – Gallery of Fine Arts, Split (HR) *
2010 “Memory of forms“, Hengesbach Gallery, Berlin (D)
2009 “As it stands“, Galerie Rolf Hengesbach, Cologne (D)
2008 “dok25a“ (with Renate Wolff), Düsseldorf (D); “Mirker Hain (Der Zeuge)“, Kunstraum Hengesbach, Wuppertal (D); Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst, Otterndorf (D)*; “Homework“, Galerie b.o.p., Zagreb (HR); Städtische Galerie J. Sporer, Opatija (HR) *
2007 „New Talents“, Art Cologne, Cologne (D); „Water, water everywhere“ (with T. Curkovic), Städtische Galerie, Labin (HR)
2006 „NAH“, Projektraum, Galerie Hammelehle und Ahrens, Cologne (D); Ausstellungsraum Zimmerstrasse, Düsseldorf (D)
2004 Glyptotheca, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb (HR) *
2000 H1234o Filodrammatica, Rijeka (HR)

Group-Exhibitions

2023 “Entropic Motion”, Galerie Judith Andreae, Bonn (D); “Vom Geschmack eines Apfels”, PEAC Museum, Freiburg (D)
2021 “Take a deep breath!” Neuer Kunstverein, Düsseldorf (D)
2020 “Where everything begins with doubt”, LEX Zagreb (HR); “Im Garten der Farben”, PEAC, Freiburg (D)
2019 “A Collection for the Future”, Acquisitions, 2009-2019, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb (HR)
2018 „Priroda i društvo“, 58. Annale, Poreč (HR) *; „Ungewiss“, Hengesbach Gallery, Wuppertal (D)
2017 „UNPREDICTABLE”, SCHAU FENSTER, Berlin (D); „Instructions for Watching – What the Body Wants?“ Museum of Modern and Con temporary Art, Rijeka (HR) *
2016 „Think about it“, Kunstraum Descartes, Düsseldorf (D); “Please empty your wallets”, Armaturka, Galerie Emila Filly, Ústí and Labem, (CZE)
2015 „Rates of exchange“, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb(HR) *; „Wir können auch anders“, Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst, Otterndorf (D) *
2014 „Prozess“, Kunstraum Alexander Bürkle, Freiburg (D); „Smuggling Anthologies“, Galeria Trieste Contemporanea, Trieste (I) *
2013 „Smuggling Anthologies“, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka (HR) *; „Riss“ (Disruption) Hengesbach Gallery, Berlin (D)
2012 „Change your desires rather than the order of the world“, Willem Baars Projects, Amsterdam (NL); „Neo R. Brand“ (Appartment re-installed), Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin (D); „oqbo exchange > dok25a Düsseldorf“, Galerie oqbo, Berlin (D); „20 YEARS“, Hengesbach Gallery, Berlin(D); „XI Triennal of Croatian Sculpture“, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb (HR); „Unutarnje uho“, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka (HR); Hengesbach Gallery, Berlin (D)
2011 “bergen naar de vlakte / geistige Berge im Flachland“, SMAX Grants Schloss Ringenberg, Hamminkeln (D); Kunstverein Koelnberg, Cologne (D)
2010 “Pushing more Pictures“, Hengesbach Gallery, Berlin (D); “Toxicure“, Kunstverein Koelnberg, Cologne (D); “Flachsland rauscht“, E 105, Berlin (D)
2009 “Bodenständig“, Kunstraum Alexander Bürkle, Freiburg (D); “the X Triennal of Croatian Sculpture“, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb HR); „49.Porec Annale“, Porec (HR); “Finalist“, Galerija gradska, Labin (HR)
2008 “Sv. Krsevan“, Sibenik (HR); “e.i.b.e.“, Con Sum, Düsseldorf (D); Kunstraum Alexander Bürkle, Freiburg (D)
2007 “Komm“, Cologne; b.o.p. Gallery, Zagreb (HR) *
2006 “Swamp“, Galerie Rolf Hengesbach, Cologne (D); „the IX Triennal of Croatian Sculpture“, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb (HR); “Snapshot“, Art Gallery, Split (HR); “Happy End“, Laden, Düsseldorf (D)
2005 “Les Adieux L´Absence Le Retour“, 7 Stock, Dresden (D); “Minibar Goes On“, Minibar, Düsseldorf (D); „39. Salon“, Croatian Association of Artists, Zagreb (HR); “Snapshot“, Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik (HR); “Friends and Lovers“, Laden, Düsseldorf (D); “Integrität“, Uberbau, Düsseldorf (D)
2003 “Emerging Artists“, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka (HR)
2002 “Uberbau“, Artis, Stedelijk Museum S’Hertogenbosch (NL); “Gastarbeit“, Labin Art Ekspres, Labin (HR)
2001 Gallery SC, Zagreb

* Catalogue