The exhibition project Middle Gate II – The Story of Dymphna is a collaboration between M HKA (Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp) and the cultural centre de Werft in Geel. Middle Gate II is the follow up to the exhibition Middle Gate, curated by Jan Hoet in Geel in 2013. The exhibition concept is closely tied to the legend of the holy Dymphna, saint of the possessed, the mentally ill and patroness against epilepsy and insanity. The legend of Dymphna shares a strong connection to the identity of Geel, "the charitable city".

Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven / AMVK

(c)image: AMVK
De Mens in het Dier, 1985
Series , dimensions variable
acrylic and felt tip on Plexiglas

(The Human in the Animal)

"The installation De mens in het dier, which I made for the International Cultural Centre (ICC) on the Meir in Antwerp, was shown in a more extensive version at the Association for the Museum of Contemporary Art (VMHK) in Ghent. I stuffed that space with even newer work and added Een kwestie van hormonen (A Matter of Hormones) to the title.

In retrospect it was, all together, perhaps a bit overwhelming and insufferable, but at that moment I was not interested in any aesthetic presentation of my work. Everything I had made within this particular period, I wanted to show together, because my father had just died. I wanted to show what went on in my head; it had to be shown, as an overload of visual information.

Curator Jan Hoet hated the exhibition, made a lot of noise and was running about shouting ‘Shame!’ I was completely shocked. Four years later, he began to like my work better. Multiples were made from these works for the Friends of the Museum."

 

− AMVK