Middle Gate
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".
©image: M HKA, Courtesy of the artist
"To breath the atmosphere in the red district gets me fantasising, like my works hopefully do with the viewer. Of course, prostitutes also sell fantasies. And I use my fantasies as a basis for my art.
The provocative woman in the photographs is but a part of me. It is largely a role. I hope everybody keeps that in mind. I am a living art work, I wake up fantasies. Nothing less and nothing more."
(Liliane Vertessen, 1987)
