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".

    Hugo Roelandt

    Back
    (c)Photo: M HKA, 2016
    Naaktportretten / Nude Portraits, 1976
    Hugo Roelandt
    Photography
    ink, paper

    The installation is part of Research about the Actual Aesthetic Ideal. This project consisted of an installation and a performance. The installation featured 16 life-size black-and-white nude portraits of m and women, each photographed from both front and rear. Visitors were invited to create their ‘ideal’ body by completing a survey, asking them to assemble an ‘aesthetic ideal’. In an accompanying performance, Roelandt painted five nude models in vivid colours as they posed in stances reminiscent of Michelangelo’s statues. Through this project, Roelandt sought to challenge societal norms surrounding body image and the aesthetic standards imposed by both classical art and modern media. By doing so, he asks us to consider our individual standards and norms.

    Back