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".
(c)image: video still
Like his photos, Bratkov's films are always sharp and almost painfully realistic. In the dramatically titled video Life is Pain, Bratkov filmed a Ukrainian prostitute who occasionally makes some extra cash as a chanteuse in a nightclub; her gut-wrenching repertory, bizarre make-up trompe-l’oeuil skin-colored shirt unite to exclaim the basic truth of her act – that life is pain indeed.
