Erik Kessels Explained

Erik Kessels (1966) is a Dutch artist, designer and curator with a particular interest in photography, and co-founder of KesselsKramer, an advertising agency in Amsterdam.[1] [2] Kessels and Johan Kramer established the "legendary and unorthodox" KesselsKramer in 1996, and KesselsKramer Publishing, their Amsterdam-based publishing house.[3]

He is "best known as a book publisher specialising in absurdist found photography",[4] extensively publishing his and others' found and vernacular photography.[5] Notable works include the long-running series Useful Photography, which he edits with others, and his own In Almost Every Picture.[6] [7] [8] [9] Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, said "His magazine, Useful Photography, forgoes art and documentary for images that are purely functional. ... Humour is the unifying undercurrent here as it is in KesselsKramer's series of photo books, In Almost Every Picture".

Life and work

Kessels was born in Roermond, Netherlands and grew up in the adjacent village Swalmen.[10]

He collects photographs he finds on flea markets, fairs, in junk shops, and online, and appropriates and re-contextualises them. He extensively publishes his and others' found and vernacular photography through KesselsKramer Publishing. Notable works include the long-running series Useful Photography, which he edits with others, and his own In Almost Every Picture. Among the works he published through other publishers are Een Idee aub (2012)[11] about creativity on command, Failed it (2016)[12] about turning mistakes into brilliant ideas and The Many Lives of Erik Kessels (2017),[13] an overview of his work so far. Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, said "Kessels made his name as a champion of found photography, seeking out discarded family albums in order to show us anew their mundane beauty and oddness. He is best known for his magazine Useful Photography, which celebrates images of the purely functional, and his series of books In Almost Every Picture, which home in on motifs that appear accidentally in amateur photo albums – such as wayward fingers. ... More recently, Kessels has become “more and more interested in the stories of the photographs" rather than the images themselves." His most successful publication is In Almost Every Picture 7. Parr and Badger include In Almost Every Picture 4 (2006) in the third volume of their photobook history.[14] In it they say "Erik Kessels is one of the guiding lights behind the magazine Useful Photography, edited by a group of (mainly) Dutch photographers in a witty yet serious manner. In his ongoing series In Almost Every Picture, he continues his exploration of the found snapshot as a solo author. The idea in this series is to gather together a group of snapshots devoted to a theme and treat them as if the photographers were vernacular "conceptual" artists – which in a sense they are."

In 2015 Kessels was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, for Unfinished Father, along with Trevor Paglen, Laura El-Tantawy, and Tobias Zielony.[15] [16] [17]

Kessels' exhibition Destroy My Face, as part of the BredaPhoto 2020 festival in the Netherlands, was met with widespread criticism on social media of misogyny, and was eventually removed by the venue, Pier15 Skatepark. The work, which Kessels describes as an "interactive work",[18] consists of composite portraits created by an algorithm based on images on the internet of people who have undergone plastic and cosmetic surgery. The photos of women's faces were printed as sticker folie and affixed to the floor surface of the skatepark, where visitors could contribute to the destruction of the faces through the activity of skating over the prints.[19] [20]

After the festival opened on 9 September 2020, an open letter to the festival and the skatepark, signed by artists, designers, photographers, and other creatives under the name We Are Not A Playground, described the work and its implementation as misogynistic.[21] Within only a few days, as of 14 September 2020, the letter had collected more than 2000 signatures.[22] [23]

KesselsKramer and KesselsKramer Publishing

KesselsKramer is an independent, advertising agency established by Kessels and Johan Kramer in 1996. It is based in Amsterdam with offices in London and Los Angeles, and a staff of about fifty.[24] [25]

KesselsKramer has been called "legendary and unorthodox". Its notable advertising campaigns have been "The Worst Hotel In The World" for Hans Brinker Budget Hotel in Amsterdam,[26] [27] and "I Amsterdam" for the city of Amsterdam.

KesselsKramer Publishing is an Amsterdam-based publishing house. It produces books on photography, art, and some fiction. KesselsKramer only publishes works created in house by its own staff.

Publications

Publications and zines by Kessels and with others

Useful Photography

In Almost Every Picture

Publications with contributions by Kessels

Film by Kessels

Exhibitions (selected)

Collections

Kessels' work is held in the following public collection:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. The Vanishing Art of the Family Photo Album. 4 September 2013 . 28 April 2016 . Tim . Clark . .
  2. Web site: Erik Kessels in Conversation with David Morgan . 24 May 2016 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20160523144757/http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/erik-kessels-in-conversation-with-david-morgan . 23 May 2016 . dead .
  3. News: The world's weirdest photo albums. 30 March 2014 . 27 April 2016 . Sean . O'Hagan . Sean O'Hagan (journalist) . . London .
  4. News: Deutsche Börse photography prize shortlist: drones v the women of Tahrir. 5 November 2015 . 27 April 2016 . Sean . O'Hagan . Sean O'Hagan (journalist) . . London .
  5. Web site: In Almost Every Picture. 28 April 2016 . Charlie . Robin Jones . . 25 August 2009 .
  6. News: Photo Series Honors The Age Old Photographic Tradition Of Giant Fingers Getting In The Way. 16 September 2014 . 28 April 2016 . Priscilla . Frank . .
  7. News: Erik Kessels Found Photography Book Chronicles Adventures Of Wedding Photographer Larbi Laaraichi (Photos). 2 February 2013 . 28 April 2016 . .
  8. News: Erik Kessels' 'In Almost Every Picture' Series Features Fred Clark's Underwater Wife Photos. 22 October 2012 . 28 April 2016 . . Hallie . Sekoff .
  9. News: Erik Kessels: 'All the great photographs have already been taken'. 15 April 2016 . 27 April 2016 . Sean . O'Hagan . Sean O'Hagan (journalist) . . London .
  10. Web site: Explore Erik Kessels. rkd.nl.
  11. Book: Kessels, Erik. Een idee aub : over creativiteit op commando . 2012 . Business Contact . 9789047005919. Amsterdam [etc.]. 812637473.
  12. Book: Kessels, Erik. Failed it! : how to turn mistakes into ideas and other advice for successfully screwing up. 9780714871196. London. 949323474. 16 May 2016.
  13. Book: The many lives of Erik Kessels. Kessels. Erik. Zanot. Francesco. Baker. Simon. Aarsman. Hans. Phillips. Sandra S.. 978-1597114165. First. New York, N.Y.. 959037937. 2017.
  14. Book: Martin. Parr . Gerry. Badger . Martin Parr . Gerry Badger . The Photobook: A History, Volume III . London . Phaidon . 2014 . 253 . 978-0-7148-6677-2.
  15. Web site: Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2016. deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org.
  16. Web site: Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2016: shortlist announced – Creative Review. 5 November 2015. 27 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160412061544/http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2015/november/deutsche-borse-photography-prize-2016-shortlist-announced/. 12 April 2016. dead.
  17. News: Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2016 shortlist announced. 5 November 2015 . 27 April 2016 . Beth . Ryan . . London .
  18. Web site: Erik Kessels on Instagram: "'Destroy my face' interactive work. Status after one day skating! @pier15skatepark @breda_photo @erik.kessels #skateboard #skatepark…". https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CE82oKdB57N . 26 December 2021 . registration. 16 September 2020. Instagram. en.
  19. Web site: 14 September 2020. Erik Kessels protests plastic surgery with a skatepark papered in pouts. 16 September 2020. Creative Review.
  20. Web site: 14 September 2020. A Male Artist's Invitation to Destroy Women's Faces Is Unapologetic Misogyny. 16 September 2020. ELEPHANT. en-US.
  21. Web site: WE ARE NOT A PLAYGROUND: An Open Letter to the Organisation and Board of BredaPhoto and Skatepark Pier15. 16 September 2020. Google Docs. en.
  22. Web site: 12 September 2020. An open letter calls out art encouraging skaters to destroy images of women. 16 September 2020. Dazed.
  23. Web site: 15 September 2020. Skatebaan verwijdert foto's Erik Kessels na online kritiek. 16 September 2020. NRC Handelsblad.
  24. Web site: KK : About. kesselskramer.com.
  25. Web site: KK : Contact. kesselskramer.com.
  26. Web site: The Great Ads Of "The Worst Hotel In The World". BuzzFeed.
  27. Web site: The worst book in the world? – Creative Review. 26 March 2009. 29 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160801181200/http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/march/the-worst-book-in-the-world/. 1 August 2016. dead.
  28. Web site: In Almost Every Picture – Edition 1–5. wearejust.com. kesselskramerpublishing.
  29. Web site: IN ALMOST EVERY PICTURE – EDITION 6–10. kesselskramerpublishing.
  30. Web site: Baltic Plus – Loud & Clear: Ryuichi Sakamoto; Marlene Dumas; Erik Kessels/KesselsKramer. balticplus.uk.
  31. News: 24 hour photo art goes on display. BBC News. 16 November 2011.
  32. News: Erik Kessels, Photographer, Prints Out 24 Hours Worth Of Flickr Photos (Photos). 14 November 2011 . 28 April 2016 . . Tara . Kelly .
  33. Web site: Five Strange Family Albums: Alessandra Sanguinetti/ Emmet Gowin/ Erik Kessels/ Ralph Eugene Meatyard/ Sadie Benning. 27 April 2016 . . 26 October 2015 .
  34. Web site: Le Bal – Vogue.it.
  35. Web site: Memory Palace, Victoria & Albert Museum, review. Mark. Hudson. 18 June 2013. The Daily Telegraph.
  36. Web site: Installation image of Sky Arts Ignition: Memory Palace at the V&A – Memory Palace – Memory, The Wasp Factory, New Generation Thinker Rebecca Steinfeld, Night Waves – BBC Radio 3. BBC.
  37. News: 'Memory Palace' Exhibition Renders Dystopian World With Trash Towers, Walk-In Book (Photos). 20 June 2013 . 28 April 2016 . .
  38. Web site: (Mis)Understanding Photography: Works and Manifestos: June 14 – August 17, 2014. 29 April 2016 . .
  39. Web site: Erik Kessels, Unfinished Father. 27 April 2016 . .
  40. Web site: Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2016 . 24 May 2016 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20160524204034/http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/deutsche-borse-photography-foundation-prize-2016 . 24 May 2016 . dead .
  41. Web site: 'Destroy My Face'- Erik Kessels. 16 September 2020. BredaPhoto. 16 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200916172600/https://www.bredaphoto.nl/destroy-my-face-erik-kessels/?lang=en. dead.
  42. Web site: Kunstwerk met vrouwengezichten van skatebaan verwijderd na scherpe petitie. 15 September 2020.
  43. Web site: Collectie: Erik Kessels. 27 April 2016 . .