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".

Ricardo Brey

(c)image: Alina Sardiña - Courtesy of the artist and Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York © Ricardo Brey/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Árbol Cortado y Escombros (Felled tree and rubble), 2013-2014
Photography , c.a 150 x 260 cm
Photo on canvas, gloves, cards

"I prefer to talk in poetry. When I use a mattress, a rear-view mirror, or tyres in my installations, I do the same thing as in poetry; I use ordinary materials like ordinary words. But the combination of these ordinary words enlightens reality."

(Pirotte, P. Trattenendosi: Embracing the Elephant’s Leg, 1999, p.91)