KESSELS, Erik - Unfinished Father

Background information

"In 2014, Erik KESSELS' father suffered a stroke and has since been barely able to speak or move. Prior to this, he was extremely active. His projects included restoring examples of that Italian icon: the Fiat 500 (or “Topolino”.) Before his stroke, he'd completed four such restorations and was working on a fifth, the half-finished carapace of which remains at his home.

Content

With the 'Unifinished Father' project Erik KESSELS plans to transport this last Topolino to Reggio Emilia and show it alongside the images his father made to document his restoration. For the artist, this work is about a man who — like his vehicle — will never be complete, but remain unfinished. While films and stories teach us that endings are neat (and often happy), the truth is that everything ends abruptly, more or less half- done. No matter how carefully we plan and how precisely we execute those plans, there is no guarantee that they will reach our hoped for conclusion.
Similarly, the unfinished Topolino is the reverse of his father's situation in life: he was a man who didn't like to leave things undone, who saw them to their end. We can attempt to control our circumstances, but in the end they control us." (publisher's note, © RVB, 2014)

French description

"En 2014, le père d'Erik KESSELS fut victime d'un AVC l'empêchant de parler ou bouger normalement. Avant cela il était extrêmement actif. Entre autre passe temps, il se consacrait à la restauration de l'iconique Fiat 500 ('Topolino'). Il comptait 4 restaurations à son actif et travaillait sur un cinquième véhicule dont la carrosserie resta inachevée dans son Atelier. Avec 'Unfinished Father', Erik KESSELS propose d'exposer la voiture en l'état, installée au milieu d'une série d'images faites par son père dans le but de documenter le travail de restauration. Ce faisant, l'artiste lui rend à la fois un hommage tout en retenu et met en scène l'ironie cruelle du destin. Alors que les films et les histoires nous enseignent que les fins sont toujours bien orchestrées (et même souvent heureuses) la vérité est toute autre. Quelque soit notre volonté de maitriser le cours des choses, la précaution que l'on emploi à planifier sa vie, la vérité semble dire l'artiste, est que tout se termine de façon brutale."

About the Dutch photographer Erik KESSELS

Photo volumes by Erik KESSELS