In collaboration with the Rijeka Association of Art Historians, the City Museum of Rijeka presents a retrospective exhibition of Rijeka painter Ksenija Mogin. Mogin emerged on Rijeka’s art scene alongside a new generation of artists (Zrinšćak, Laginja, Pongrac, Milić and others) at the Biennials of Young Yugoslav Artists in the early 1980s. Her artistic path led from Constructivist drawings, informed by her recent studies at the Academy in Ljubljana, to the abstract expression of her Landscapes series. This development was recognised through her participation in the landmark 1988 exhibition at Rijeka’s Modern Gallery, Controlled Gesture – Examples of New Informel and Abstract Expressionism. During the 1990s, her chromatic range shifted from an almost entirely dark palette towards lighter tonalities, while her pronounced gestural approach gave way to a spectrum of lyrical and nostalgic sensibilities. She called this new series Memory Books. In the early 2000s, Mogin created a series of spatial installations entitled Sale of the Past, in which paintings extended into space became records of transience. This was followed by a flirtation with kitsch as a new field of artistic play, balancing on the edge while continuing to explore new visual challenges. Consistently committed to a dialogue with herself, she summed up her artistic choices in the statement: All My Paintings Are Diaries. Mogin began her academic career as one of the founders of the Painting Department at the Faculty of Education in Rijeka and concluded it in 2020 at the Academy of Applied Arts, retiring with the permanent academic title of Full Professor. Generations of Rijeka students passed through her painting classes. Alongside painting and teaching, she also developed her artistic identity through costume design, working extensively in theatre and creating carnival costumes. The retrospective exhibition and accompanying monograph present this rich and diverse body of work. The exhibition is curated by art historian Jolanda Todorović, who also designed the exhibition together with the artist. At the opening, they were joined by Mladen Urem, Director of the Museum, and Berislav Valušek, President of the Rijeka Association of Art Historians.
The exhibition is on view from 16 December 2025 to 20 January 2026.
