05/11/2024
Artists on Philippe Van Snick (3)
The Philippe Van Snick Estate invited Rein Dufait to share his memories on Philippe Van Snick. This resulted in an intimate written portrait on the relationship between both artists.
Rein Dufait (°1990) met Philippe Van Snick for the first time at the age of 19. Dufait cherishes warm memories of the brief encounters they had, especially those in which they exchanged artist’s books, a mutual interest of both artists.
“When we were together, surrounded by books, neither of us talked very much. I only had a small number of booklets that I brought with me, and he kept adding books and objects such as posters or small prints and editions from the past. I remember that one day Philippe offered me a whole bunch of these booklets. I was surprised by his generosity. From time to time, I take them out to examine them again. For me, this means more than big words. Therein was the freedom he showed me.”
Dufait points out the significance of Van Snick’s work to him:
“At first glance, Philippe’s work might be considered as something superficial, and I mean this without any negative meaning attached to it. I realize that when you don’t have enough knowledge about art, you may simply find it ‘beautiful', but there is a lot that escapes you. I might have been too young at the time, but I understand now that his work is actually the opposite of superficiality.”
“One needs a certain amount of knowledge to grasp the nature of Philippe’s art, and when I met him at 19, I simply wasn’t there yet. We passed each other briefly but not under ideal circumstances (if any exist).”
Van Snick and Dufait showed their work together during an exhibition at Tatjana Pieters in Ghent (2015). A few years later, Van Snick’s work was part of the exhibition ‘Schelp, zink, ruimte, wolk en overlap’ (2019) curated by Dufait in Oostende.
Currently, rein Dufait shows his work at
Trough November 10 2024
CONVENT . Ghent
Images:
(1) Philippe Van Snick, 'Boulders, Borders & Bodies (violet)', 2016. Photo: Dirk Pauwels
(2) Rein Dufait and Philippe Van Snick. Photo: Marijke Dekeukeleire, 2017
(3) Rein Dufait, 'getorst', 2018. Photo: Dirk Pauwels
![Next week, the work [no title], 2009 will be on view during .The Philippe Van Snick Estate is pleased that the work by P...](https://img3.glartent.com/819/238/939789728192384.jpg)
