Middle Gate

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".

Jacqueline Mesmaeker

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(c)image: M HKA

Conversation au bord de la Seine, 1984-2017

Jacqueline Mesmaeker

Sculpture , 26 x 54 x 26 cm

wood, nut shells, cigarette butts, candle wax

Jacqueline Mesmaeker (born 1929 in Brussels) was fashion designer from 1962 to 1972. After that, she continued her career as an artist. She creates installations, videos, draws, photographs, writes and designs. In this work, Mesmaeker refers to the history of art and architecture, more specifically to Viollet-Le Duc. The staircase has the same proportions as prescribed in his work 'Histoire d'une Maison'. Each step is 15 cm tall and 30 cm deep to make climbing the stairs easier. This way, she evokes a meeting with this artist.

"I see my work," said Mesmaeker once, "as attention directed to everyday things or literature, as emphasizing things that could be forgotten and as thanks for the fact that we are able to see and notice things.”

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