Rafael Assef has distinguished himself in the current art scene by his works that reflect the limits of the body, by means of the recording of interventions experienced on his own skin or on that of volunteers, which reveal paths, marks and personal marks.
In the solo show João-ninguem [John Nobody], Rafael Assef presents elements of his most recent research. Altogether, the works featured in the exhibition seem to suggest that Assef’s interest has ceased to reveal the particular, the individual, as in previous series such as Amigos Azuis [Blue Friends] 1998, or Cartografia [Cartography] 2004, to now portray more universal questions that talk about things individuals share in common.
Nevertheless, the tattoo, an instrument used by Assef to underscore particularities, reappears in the polyptych Quadrados na Cor da Pele [Squares in the Color of Skin]. To create this work, the artist invited nine people to tattoo various parts of their bodies with squares filled with ink similar to the color of their skin. Later, Assef photographed the nine tattoos. Nearly invisible and presented side-by-side, the images of these tattoos no longer point to what in previous works distinguished the individual. Rather, they reveal what each individual shares in common with others.
The same characteristic can be perceived in the series Branding (os Nomes de Artistas, Nomes de Moda e Nomes de Hashi) [Branding (Names of Artists, Names of Fashion, and Names of Hashi)], 2013. The three sets weave commentaries about collective choices, about specificities of determined groups. Although lacking human presence, the new series reaffirms Assef’s interest in the questions of the representation of the body, particularly in relation to the use of photography.
Rafael Assef has distinguished himself in the current art scene by his works that reflect the limits of the body, by means of the recording of interventions experienced on his own skin or on that of volunteers, which reveal paths, marks and personal marks.
In the solo show João-ninguem [John Nobody], Rafael Assef presents elements of his most recent research. Altogether, the works featured in the exhibition seem to suggest that Assef’s interest has ceased to reveal the particular, the individual, as in previous series such as Amigos Azuis [Blue Friends] 1998, or Cartografia [Cartography] 2004, to now portray more universal questions that talk about things individuals share in common.
Nevertheless, the tattoo, an instrument used by Assef to underscore particularities, reappears in the polyptych Quadrados na Cor da Pele [Squares in the Color of Skin]. To create this work, the artist invited nine people to tattoo various parts of their bodies with squares filled with ink similar to the color of their skin. Later, Assef photographed the nine tattoos. Nearly invisible and presented side-by-side, the images of these tattoos no longer point to what in previous works distinguished the individual. Rather, they reveal what each individual shares in common with others.
The same characteristic can be perceived in the series Branding (os Nomes de Artistas, Nomes de Moda e Nomes de Hashi) [Branding (Names of Artists, Names of Fashion, and Names of Hashi)], 2013. The three sets weave commentaries about collective choices, about specificities of determined groups. Although lacking human presence, the new series reaffirms Assef’s interest in the questions of the representation of the body, particularly in relation to the use of photography.
