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".

SPIRITUALITEIT | SPIRITUALITY

image: (c) M HKA, Collection M HKA, On loan from the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens - Donated by Zafos Xagoraris, 2002
Sail - Odyssey, 1982
Sculpture , 440 x 470 x 157 cm
fabric, thread

Starting from a research on the social and communicational dimension of her artistic work, since the mid-70s Bia Davou (1930-1996) conceives a serial system of her art. The artist composes a system of principles, a strict modus operandi, based on the organization of the elements of her works in numerical sequences such as the Fibonacci series and the binary system. According to this predetermined system, the depiction of the structural elements takes place in a serial manner, with each sequence occurring from the relation of the previous two. This serial manner can be applied to a multitude of variations, in an endless development, by means of drawing, of painting, embroidery on grid or plain paper, on bricks, hessian and so forth. […] The painstaking and time-consuming process employed by Bia Davou, especially the craft based practice of embroidery, bring her close to the epic of the Odyssey and Penelope’s weaving of her veil. […] In the series of drawings under the general title Serial structures 2. Odyssey (1978-1981) Bia Davou copies verses from Homer’s epic in a geometric alphabet, organizing them on the basis of numerical sequences that do not follow the metric system of the poetic composition. The artist’s selection of excerpts from the Odyssey concentrates on the travels of the Homeric hero, suggesting a parallel between the duration of Odysseus’ voyage and of the artists’ creative act. […]

— Tina Pandi, EMST

— Stamatis Schizakis, EMST

“Bia Davou”, 2008.Transexperiences.Greece, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens