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

©Courtesy of Christine König Galerie, Vienna
Moon, 2012
Installation , variable dimensions
wax, ostrich egg, paper bags, pigment, rope

"Maybe the most important choice I made in my whole life is to use second-hand materials. I say 'second-hand' because they are broken, like fragments. I think it is a very important theme for myself and in my art. When you think about Duchamp's ready-made, you are thinking about something cleaner, more finished. When I close my eyes, I see my own ready-mades as broken pieces, parts of objects, as fragments, things that have been used before. These objects and materials of ordinary use and banal significance get charged with different associations. It depends on the way you arrange them. That is part of my culture too; it is connected with that part of the world that has to survive by recycling."

(Pirotte, P. Trattenendosi: Embracing the Elephant's Leg. 1999. p. 92)