Frank van der Meijden was born on June 21st 1946 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where he graduated at the “Kweekschool” in 1968. He became a teacher at the Frans Naerebout School in Rotterdam, where he resigned after two years, following a disagreement with the Dutch Inspectorate of Education about alternative teaching methods.
Van der Meijden then became one of the founders of a new Eksit stage for Pop music. where he took on the position of programmer. Eksit soon grew into a great success, attracting all major music bands in the Netherlands to play for a full house. Following these accomplishments, Van der Meijden started to attract international acts to the Netherlands as well. Starting a club cicuit to set up tours for both British and American bands in the Netherlands and for Dutch groups touring in the UK.
Because of his achievements as a tour manager he was approached by one the most influential Dutch bands of the era and Van der Meijden became manager of CCC Inc. In the 80’s and 90’s he was manager for a range of renowned groups in Dutch pop music: Doe Maar, Het Goede Doel, De Dijk, and Bløf.
In 2006 he won the first Lifetime Achievement Award of the Music Managers Forum Nederland. In 2009, after many successful years in the music industry, Frank van der Meijden resigned as manager of the band Bløf. In 2011, he was knighted “Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau”.
As Van der Meijden resigned from the music industry his focus shifted to create original works of art: sculptural pieces, installations and dioramas, which are an arrangement of figurines against a painted and lighted background in a box that create a three-dimensional effect.
With his creations, Frank van der Meijden, as a self-taught artist, portrays his critical view of mankind in general and Western Society in particular, usually adding a comical note. Virtually all base materials used by the artist are recycled, found at garage sales and second hand stores.
The work always has a playful, child-like imagery, attracting the attention of the viewer with an immediate recognition of individual elements. This spontaneity at first glance might appear superficial, but the title, often inspired by western music, reveals the conceptual origins of Van der Meijden’s art.
Of his artworks ‘La Parata Bizarra’ (2011-12) can be designated his most monumental. This work is an assembly of nine dioramas, each of which resembles a historical period of the Western World. At the same time this installation also reveals the central themes of life itself: birth, love and death.
2018 - BLOOM, Karmelklooster, Drachten, The Netherlands
2017 - La Parata Bizarra, Dutch Design Week, Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, The NetherlandsBorn in Rotterdam on June 21st, 1946