monster chetwynd's pink salamanders create a playful portal to another world in antwerp

A large fuchsia salamander portal with three crawling salamanders spans a monolithic ring of inscribed stone marked by humidity. The salamanders’ black eyes face visitors entering and exiting the portal, evoking the idea of eyes communicating another way of seeing. Passing through the portal leads to a meeting point in the Middelheim Museum sculpture park in Antwerp, one of the world’s oldest open-air museums. The east gate functions as an entrance that links artworks to the surrounding community, including local residents, patients from ZAS Middelheim hospital, children and adolescents from UKJA, and students from the University of Antwerp. The portal is a permanent commission within a 2026 solo exhibition.

"Monster Chetwynd's Salamander Portal (2026) has three massive, fuschia salamanders crawling across its arc. Their padded toes cling onto a monolithic ring of what looks like to be inscribed stone carrying heavy water marks at the on set of humidity. It appears as if the arc was there for a very long time, or at the very least, pulled out of a Tomb Raider film. Their large black eyes look upon those who enter and exit the portal."

"As visitors pass through Chetwynd's portal, looked over by those neon guards, they find themselves in a meeting point in the Middelheim Museum' s sculpture park. Located in Antwerp, Belgium, the site is one of the world's oldest open-air museums. This east gate serves as an entrance to the park, connecting the group of artistic works inside to the greater community of local residents, patients from the ZAS Middelheim hospital and UKJA centre for child and adolescent psychiatry, and students from the University of Antwerp."

"Monster Chetwynd, Salamander Portal, 2026. Exhibition view of A FRIENDS MAKING MACHINE at Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, Belgium. Courtesy: the artist and Middelheim Museum, Antwerp. Photography: Tom Cornille."

"A FRIENDS MAKING MACHINE at Middleheim Museum sculpture garden This work, a commission from the Middleheim Museum and now a permanent part of their collection, is part of a bigger solo exhibition of Chetwynd's work, A FRIENDS MAKING MACHINE which runs from May 16 th - October 11 th 2026. Within the show, the former Turner Prize nominee transforms the space into a meeting ground and a space for dialogue wi"

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