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".

GEWELD | VIOLENCE

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Sailor's Dream [from the “Pin-Up” series], 1996

Marlene Dumas

Drawing , 125 x 70 cm

watercolour, paper

"I use all the cheap tricks of attracting attention: eyes looking at you, sexual parts exposed or deliberately covered. The primitive pull of recognition. The image as prostitute. You are forced to say yes or no." Marlene Dumas

Marlene Dumas uses the human figure as a point of departure to develop a visual critique of contemporary racial, sexual and social identities. The watercolours from the ‘MD–Pin Up Series’ in the M HKA collection are based on Polaroids that Dumas took in a strip club in Amsterdam, and on photographs from various pornographic magazines. The female body is depicted in her characteristic raw, expressionist style with sombre tones.

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