Permanent Anti-Gallery – series of exhibitions

1/3Street view of Július Koller’s work at the Anti-Gallery in 1968, B&W photograph. (courtesy of Květoslava Fulierová, Bratislava)

1/3Street view of Július Koller’s work at the Anti-Gallery in 1968, B&W photograph. (courtesy of Květoslava Fulierová, Bratislava)

1/3Street view of Július Koller’s work at the Anti-Gallery in 1968, B&W photograph. (courtesy of Květoslava Fulierová, Bratislava)

Let’s imagine a pedestrian casually walking along Klobúčnicka Street in Bratislava near the end of 1968. It’s late November; traces of the August disturbances that were provoked by the occupying army invasion are still visible. The display window of the communal Hosiery Express Repair shop becomes an exhibition space for ”anti-pictures” by Július Koller and photo paintings by Peter Bartoš. Koller and Bartoš continue to exhibit their work regularly here between 1968–69. For the two young artists, this presentation of their own work in an informal setting dissolved the boundaries between art, advertising, and merchandise. The exhibition space was called the Display Window or The Permanent Anti-gallery. Although not their most their spectacular show, in terms of their later work, it represented a crucial shift toward presenting work and ideas in a non-traditional way, in alternative exhibition spaces..