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“The slowest history of all is that of a garment that is bought and never worn.
This clothing never gets thrown away. It accompanies every move to every address.
It’s not even like a house you visit once a year. It is a private collection.” 

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Ard Bia Gallery presents an exhibition of the Polish photographic and installation artist Karolina Kowalska and the Cypriot/Polish designers Marios. Both produce work which investigates the concept of ‘the collection ’and what constitutes a personalized relationship with a set of cultural ‘givens’; that of clothing and fashion and the virtual world of information on the Internet.

Marios’ Wrong Collection is not gender or age specific and is noted for being multi-functional, consisting of garments which are not ‘sized’ and whose form is flexible by definition. The wearer dictates the form of the clothes allowing for a much more radical interaction than is usually fostered by fashion.

The fashion ideology of Marios is a subversive one promoting a high degree of versatility and variation with each element of the collection; clothes become deconstructed and gain a conceptual edge.

Marios engages in frequent collaborations with artists both in the design of their clothes and in exploring ideas relating to their display possibilities.

From Joseph Beuys’ Felt Suit to Marie-Ange Guilleminot’s Chapeau-Vie clothes have been used by many artists.

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Mash is a multi-media exhibition by Karolina Kowalska incorporating photography, video, slide-show and sculpture. The work presented for Ard Bia gallery is an extension of Kowalska’s previous projects in 2006 ‘Crash Test’ and ‘Risk Management’.

In what amounts to a private database, Kowalska’s customized ‘archive’ consists of digitally manipulated found images and texts, some drawn from documentary footage, others more surreal in nature. All are appropriated from the Internet; from blogs and websites about art, music and media theory.

Kowalska incorporates fragments of artworks she finds interesting in their virtual form as seen on the net yet never fully realized for her in conventional display conditions.
Her work is about the complexity of how we perceive virtual images--art which occupies the zone of ‘simulacra’.
What affective relationships are produced by art seen in this form compared to gallery spaces?

In order to facilitate the tentative and transient nature of Kowalska’s work, Ard Bia Gallery presents the exhibition as an ‘event’,  a temporary installation situated in an environment closer to a studio or a club than the usual white-cube space.

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Ardbia Gallery,
4 William Street West, Galway, Ireland.

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t : 00353 87 2368648 / 00353 91 516630
email us
w: www.ardbia.com

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gallery opening hours:
Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 6pm