Middle Gate

    NLEN

    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".

    Middle Gate Geel '13

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    ©Collectie Museum Dr. Guislain, Gent
    Selbstdarstellung, 1915-1930
    Adolf Wölfli
    Drawing , 22,1 x 32 cm
    Coloured pencil, graphite pencil

    Adolf Wölfli has a difficult youth: born in a dirt-poor family, working on the farm from the age of eight and orphaned by the age of nine. As a young man he was arrested a couple of times for indecent assault. He was unstable and violent. In 1895, after a couple of incidents, he was permanently detained in the Waldau institution.

    In this psychiatric hospital, Wölfli starts to create his spectacular oeuvre: besides drawing, he also writes stories, poetry and music. Between 1904 and 1906 he creates 800 drawings (Tönstucke) which contain figurines, words and empty musical notations. After this period, he starts creating what is referred to as “the central part of his oeuvre”: a “story” containing autobiographical and fictitious elements. In total the “story” contains 45 bound books (more than 25.000 numbered, signed and dated pages, all by hand). In addition to the large amount of text, he adds 1620 drawings and 1640 collages. As the “story” progresses, music becomes more and more important; it is the only way for Wölfli to depict his cosmos.

    Selbstdarstellung depicts a figure called Doufi, wearing an Indian headdress or coloured feathers. This fictitious figure is depicted in many of Wölfli’s work and represents his antithesis. Doufi is always traveling to far away countries and is living and adventurous life, contrary to Wölfli’s own life.

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