Behind the Counter

The exhibition Za Pultem (Behind the Counter) explores diverse interpretations of femininity, tracing both the real and symbolic presence of women in the public sphere. Presenting a fresh perspective, the exhibition highlights how contemporary women artists across generations—Paulina Olowska, Caroline Walker, and Adéla Janská—use painting to decode and reconstruct the cultural memory of Modernism. Through this lens, the artists reflect on “recycled” iconographies of the 1950s–1990s and reconsider themes of women’s labor, intimacy, and visibility within public and private spheres. It adopts a historical lens, reflecting on archetypal female figures of Socialist Modernism and the period of “Normalization” in Czechoslovakia—such as allegories of labor—and asks whether this visual canon allowed room for female desire. Scholars of the era often described the female worker as the Other. How, then, might we understand this socialist imaginary today? Drawing inspiration from the iconic 1970s Czechoslovak TV series Žena za pultem (Woman Behind the Counter), the exhibition juxtaposes figurative works with a scenographic display and a film installation that evoke the atmospheres of shop interiors and domestic workspaces. The gallery’s scenography incorporates industrial machines, sculptural and stainless-steel elements, and spatial mise-en-scène, extending the reflection on modern labor and gendered memory. A newly produced video work complements the installation, introducing the project through the voices and faces of the three participating artists. Presented amidst piles of scrap metal and staged compositions, the video explores scale, memory, and post-socialist transformation through a feminist lens. The exhibition design draws not only on the logic of the store counter but also on the aesthetics of everyday rituals, habits, and gestures. The scenography transforms the gallery into a multilayered environment, inspired by retro-futuristic shop displays, folding screens, kitchen counters, and backroom storage. These elements function as both stage and frame for the paintings, inviting the viewer to become a passerby, a customer, a worker, or a voyeur. Through this dialogue between past and present, Za Pultem (Behind the Counter) reconsiders the cultural legacy of Socialism and its echoes in contemporary visual culture, while asking urgent questions about gender, labor, and visibility in today’s world. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication with contributions from Yelena Yemchuk and Joanna Zielinska, edited by Krzysztof Gutfrański.