Middle Gate

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    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

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    (c)photo: Isabel Brey, Ghent - Courtesy Ricardo Brey and Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York © Ricardo Brey/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
    Ongon Tree, 2014
    Ricardo Brey
    Object , 23 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed); 15 x 75 x 75 cm (box opened)
    paper, spoon, coins, tortoise shells, metal, ceramic, lead, glass, buttons, leather, chains and one leporlello book

    In the box Ongon Tree you will find four spheres and the shell of a tortoise. According to Brey the tortoise can be seen as a box, as such this work shows a box within a box. Furthermore, Brey tries to make us aware of the boxes that are present all around us. We live (like the tortoise) in boxes; a box can also be used as a metaphor for our head. In the box, which is our head, we keep memories and things that shape our lives, similar to the outset of the boxes Brey creates. The tortoise can also symbolize the cosmos, as they are often presented in origin stories.

    Books:

    Leporello book: D. Jacobt + Theodorum, 2014, 26 cm (x 26 cm) x 427 cm

    Leporello book: La nave, 2015, 28 cm (x 28 cm ) x 468 cm

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