Ananké Asseff

Shortly after and in the same background, she presented a self-portrait where she can be seen as a teenager, dressed as a schoolgirl and sitting in an armchair holding a package in her hands. With this picture, the young artist trained in the province of Córdoba went on to play an important role in the Buenos Aires scene. The character’s innocent gesture, in open contrast with her lips painted red and her slightly open legs express a suggested eroticism rather than an explicit one. The value of the piece lies in its ambiguity. This beautiful and exciting young lady, who does not insinuate herself openly, moves the viewer because of her vulnerability but at the same time provokes unmentionable desires. The oscillation between innocence and perversion is the perfect balance that turned this picture into an icon. The rest of the series, perhaps too explicit and gloating on the beauty of the artist’s body, lacked those virtues, but Asseff’s career had taken a big step forward.

Her experience in the international circuit started with the series of pictures dedicated to insecurity and violence, with a surprising portrait of prototypes of the Argentine middle class holding guns and pistols, armed and determined to stand against the crime wave that the crisis unleashed and that still persists. Last year Asseff took part in the exhibitions organized by Gerardo Mosquera (PhotoEspaña) and Rodrigo Alonso (Frankfurter Kunstverein); her work was included in the Tate Modern Collection in London, and the Chilean curator, Justo Pastor Mellado, presented her “Crímenes banales” (Banal Crimes) in the Recoleta Cultural Center.

The invitation made by the curator Fernando Farina to exhibit her work in the YPF Foundation Arte en la Torre program put her in a difficult place: the immense lobby of the building designed by the Tucumán-born architect César Pelli in the neighborhood of Puerto Madero. Disputing the leading role with architecture requires not only large-format artworks but also beautiful, attractive ones capable of catching the eye of the viewer that tends to get lost in the reflections of a glass building. Thus, “El miedo al viento” (Fear of the wind) emerged; a marked installation with a strong power of seduction for the retina.

The work stands out for many reasons. Firstly, for the vast dimension of a modelled wave made of clay that seems to rise from nothing and that is perceived as a threat. Secondly, for the material: shiny silver metal used in figures. There are two life size characters, a tiger that moves towards a man who appears to be still, with the calm, selfless attitude of a victim that surrenders to an inexorable destiny. Asseff manages to freeze time: something is about to happen. The giant wave that is about to break announces a catastrophe, while the tiger moves forward. A few meters away, behind a big wall, a forest is outlined against a blue sky and the vision of that luminescent night horizon offers a break from so much tension. The atmosphere is cinematographic: the spectator that comes into scene is forced to imagine an end.

"El miedo al viento" meant a big change in direction for the artist; she went from photography to site specific. Moreover, the change led her to render the content of her works more profound and to inquire even further into the fierce interior of the universe of fear. Many metaphors arose in this way.

Meanwhile, the artist’s creativity grows and becomes firm at the psychological level. She encourages spectators to discover the sinister components that dwell in the things that look familiar at first glance; she shows the intimidating world that surrounds us and that we are reluctant to see. Her work is a sign.