PRIMEUR // Diederik Schneemann

Exhibition Opening
Sunday, January 29, 2023
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Diederik Schneemann's work balances between art and design. Communicating more than just aesthetics, his oeuvre is distinguished by repurposing objects, altering their appearance and use in such a way as to create a new concept and a second life, evoking a new unexpected reality. Schneemann's creations often find their origin in existing objects. He refers to well-known iconic shapes or products that reveal stories, evoke an emotion or evoke early memories and feelings.

MPV Gallery presents work from the Cherished Collection by Diederik Schneemann in the exhibition. It is his most recent series of work, in which he uses collectibles from personal collections. Think of perfume bottles, matchboxes, smurfs or cigar bands.

A personal collection can be of enormous value to one person and worthless to another. A collection of 35 years nurtured over decades represents a certain value. Diederik Schneemann recognizes this value and treats a personal collection with the same dedication as he would have done with an expensive material such as marble or bronze.

In this way, Schneemann creates a collection that has been completely transformed and is now viewed in a completely different way. It has taken on a new value and often evokes early personal memories and feelings. The matchboxes have become time capsules that take us back to the second half of the 20th century by evoking images of old hotels in faraway places or the brands of cigarettes your parents used to smoke.

Diederik Schneemann was born in Hasselt in 1979 and grew up in Maastricht. Nowadays he has his studio in Rotterdam, the city where he lives and works.