The permanent exhibition presents the most significant art phenomena of the second half of the 20th century that critically determined the nature of art events in Slovakia. The aim of the exhibition is to identify individual phenomena and present the works of artists of many generations, typical of the Slovak fine art of the respective period. In accordance with the phenomena of fine art, the exhibition gives a picture of the formation of art and artistic thinking in Slovakia, while making possible to study art events in all their bearings.

By putting the works of art into respective contexts in the development of art, the exhibition presents mutual interconnections and links among specific artworks, while these are preserving their own qualities and are presenting themselves as unique artefacts.

The permanent exhibition also features two installations of extraordinary importance created for the given space in situ: the installation Villa of Mysteries by Alex Mlynárčik, originally created for the exhibition in Lund (Sweden) in 1966 – 1967, which presents significant part of our fine art and an authentic evidence of the period, and the installation Passage by Matej Krén, consisting of almost 15,000 books, which, together with mirrors, create an illusion of endless space and infinity of human knowledge. The artist donated the installation to the City Gallery of Bratislava in 2004.