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

image: (c) M HKA, Collection M HKA, Antwerp / Collection Flemish Community
Chanter l'enfer [To Sing Hell], 2010
Installation , 120 x 30 x 40 cm, 40 x 33 x 7 cm, 5 x 5 x 5 cm
wood, drapery, perspex, metal, aluminium

In 2010, François Curlet visits the home of Clergyman Andras Pandy in Brussels, which had only just been released for sale by the police; it was a “psychological Bermuda triangle” where the serial killer, Pandy, had murdered six family members, later dissolving their bodies in acid. On his return from this voyage into horror, the artist carried with him a number of souvenirs, or relics, including the curtain of the small window at the front door and the spindles of a peculiar banister that lingered somewhere further on, objects which continued to bear the faint stain of those dramatic events. He converts these objects into new likenesses, for example, transforming the staircase spindles into open bird feeders. With the knowledge of these recycled objects’ history, the viewer is forced to pause and contemplate the power inherent of things and how they bear within them the capacity to channel evil.