Fashionista
oryginal tittle: “Fashionistka”
(2016 – 2019)
113 x 38 x 128 cm
Mixed media. Jute bank bags, clothing tags
Photo: Igor Haloszka
Fashion victims are people who are prepared to expose themselves to ridicule just to follow the seasonal ideas of fashion dictators. Clothing in human history does not only protect against the cold. Dress is also a costume that emphasises wealth status, carnivalizes social life, underscores class membership, identifies communities and serves to establish a game between shame and desire. Ida’s gesture here is to sew clothing tags in place of the fleece for which the sheep was domesticated. When Ida and her sculpture roamed the shopping malls in the run-up to the Christmas shopping season, the sheep was primarily intended to warn against the climatic consequences of unrestrained consumption, becoming a direct criticism aimed at the marketing of the clothing industry. However, when the sculpture stood at the Royal Castle in the vicinity of sacred paintings, it began to take on visual allegories of sacrifice.


Sheep and lambs in European culture are animals intended for ritual slaughter. The lamb was associated with the story of the Exodus from Egypt, at which time the blood on the door was meant to protect Jewish homes. The symbol of the lamb made its way into Christian iconography, becoming an animal symbol of shed blood and salvation. The term ‘fashion sacrifice’ invoked at the outset can be misleading. The fashion industry’s relentless pursuit of trends, churning out massive quantities of clothing designed for fleeting enjoyment, comes at a heavy cost to the planet. These clothes, worn for a short time, take a long time to decompose, leaving the environment – and ultimately us, regardless of our fashion choices – as the biggest victims.
Paweł Brylski

EXHIBITIONS 
Ida Karkoszka & Joos van Cleve? Sins of the world
oryginal tittle: „Ida Karkoszka & Joos van Cleve? Grzechy świata”
Royal Castle in Warsaw, 2024
Key in the Castle
Klucz w Zamku
Curator: Monika Przypkowska Klucz w Zamku / Key in the Castle
Let them weave! Contemporary Polish Sewn Sculpture
oryginal tittle: „Niech szyją! Współczesna polska rzeźba uszyta”
Center of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu in Toruń 2023
Curators: Leszek Golec, Stanisław Małecki
Photo: David Lewandowski (courtesy of the CSW in Toruń), Piotr Szmyt
Less is more
oryginal tittle: „Mniej znaczy więcej”
Shopping center Golden Terraces, Warsaw, 2022
Domy Towarowe Wars Sama Junior
Photo: Piotr Szmyt, Patryk Stanczak, Mateusz Syta
Manifesto for a better life
oryginal tittle: “Manifest na rzecz lepszego życia”
Salon Akademii, Warszawa / Warsaw, 2021
Curators: Eulalia Domanowska, Magda Lipska
Let them weave! Contemporary Polish Sewn Sculpture
oryginal tittle: “Niech szyją! Współczesna polska rzeźba uszyta”
Studio Cannariegio, Venice, Italy, 2022
Curators: Leszek Golec, Stanisław Małecki
Photo: Leszek Golec