Adéla Janskà: The look of a woman defines her
Charles Gaucher interviews Adela Janska
Adela Janska, Red Chair, 2024. with permission Adrian Sutton Gallery, Paris
From 5 April to 14 June 2025, Adrian Sutton Gallery hosts an exhibition by Czech artist Adéla Janská, who studied in Slovakia before returning to her hometown Olomouc, Czech Republic. Her work frequently references the world of dolls, drawing from her own collection of porcelain dolls, depicting female figures with an impassive beauty while literature also plays a central role in directing her art. Janska’s paintings raise intriguing questions: In her work, the woman enacts a silent revolution, slipping into scenes where the influence of cinema is unmistakable. The doll’s house itself becomes the domestic setting — a space ripe for a form of woman empowerment, tinged with a cold softness. A master of colour, Adéla Janská paints in oil on large-scale canvases, where her striking subjects meet the viewer’s gaze head-on.
Art Lantern : You speak of silent resistance, while borrowing codes that suggest a male gaze. Is there a form of re-appropriation of feminine beauty by the female gaze in your painting?
Adéla Janskà : I paint what I see and what I feel. As a student I was brought up on art history – mostly constructed by the male gaze. Television and cinema posters were all constructed by the same gaze. I want to turn the mirror in another direction, more sensitive and projected on interior character rather than simply exterior. This is exciting when you think of painting.
I often find that a woman viewer sees in a painting another woman, sees her own experience. A man usually sees an object. His perspective is different.
Is the use of a large format in your painting a way of placing the viewer in front of a human-sized subject?
Yes, it is a confrontation and directness of viewing the depicted subject. You are attracted to the subject matter, and when you come close to the painting, you can smell it and follow the brushstrokes and different techniques and media that I use in my painting: like spray, oil stick, pastel and sometimes even traces of raw canvas. I like how viewers come close to the work.
Do you feel close to Pop Art imagery? Some of the codes evoke it, although your painting is very personal and singular.
Yes, I love the imagery of recently discovered female pop artists like Evelyn Axel or Pauline Boty. I recently discovered polish pop artist Alina Szapocznikow whose work is both emotional and has a pop western aesthetic like catchy imagery and tempting femininity.
The gaze is an essential element in your work, sometimes frontal, other times slightly furtive. Is this a form of confrontation with the viewer?
Yes, the eyes and the look of a woman defines her.
To what extent have you been influenced by the imagery of fashion, or even cinema? Which era would you like us to travel to?
I love film and it is fundamental to my work which features close-ups in the show, “Collisions” where my small paintings are in close connection like stills from a movie. My next show is in my hometown Olomouc at Telegraph gallery with Caroline Walker and Paulina Olowska. We will be referring directly to Czech cinema and the iconic tv series called “Women behind the counter” starring Jiřina Švorcová.