Shade

oryginal tittle: “Cień”

(2020)

220 x 230 x 210 cm
Mixed media, jute bank bags, natural furs

Photo: Paulina Mirowska, Ida Karkoszka

If it weren’t for the tail, it would look like a dog. The fox is built from contrast. The black body made of dyed canvas stands out from the background, it looks like a shadow caught in motion, in a nonchalant pose as it scratches its back with its leg. Its tail is sewn from animal furs that Ida sourced in collections organized in collaboration with the Open Cages (Otwarte Klatki) Association. The campaign was held at art venues: the Academy of Fine Arts, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw and the Nowy Theatre. Many people were relieved to donate furs they had inherited as an unwanted legacy from their ancestors and the not-so-distant past, when the cruel trophy of animal scalp protected against the cold and was a marker of cultural status. The collection action allowed the fur to be symbolically returned to its rightful owner.

The visual contrast between the dog and the fox is a reflection of the glaring tension and difference in the treatment of animals. Man exhibits a stark bias towards animals, forging connections with some while instrumentally exploiting others. Dogs often have the status of closest friends, household members, family members, they are well-groomed, have private health care, and after death they can even rest under a tombstone in a cemetery intended for pets. At the same time, foxes, despite their close relationship to dogs, are still treated with extreme brutality because their fur serves as decoration and a determinant of economic and social status. For Ida, the involvement of art does not end with expressing opposition or influencing individual attitudes, its agenda is political, it strives to change the applicable law.

Paweł Brylski