Anything that has been used by humans has a history.
If you touch something you leave a charge on it, and anybody else touching it connects with you, in a way. El Anatsui
“Gravity and Grace” - El Anasui
“Gravity and Grace” (2010), a thirty-seven-foot sheet of more than ten thousand liquor-bottle tops joined with copper wire. Anatsui’s works are often draped and folded, but this one was flat, and it shone like a dragon’s hide stretched on an invisible rack. (New Yorker)
See
Ghanaian sculptor is redefining Africa’s place in the global art scene.
His runaway success began with castaway junk: a bag of metal bottle seals and caps from African alcohol bottles, and the journey began, making huge installations by crushing the bottle caps into circles and cutting them into strips and securing them together with copper wire. The effect is sublime. It’s this shimmering quality that is more reminiscent of fabric than metal. (ina contemporary art)
Detail of gli (wall), 2010 commission, Rice University Art Gallery, Houston photo:© nash baker
Artwork in the GAWU series. Photo: WikiCommons
El Anatsui, Generation Coming, 2022
On February 22, 2023, Hyundai Motor and Tate announced El Anatsui as the 8th Hyundai Commission Artist.
El Anatsui, Kindred Viewpoints (2016). Aluminum and copper wire. 1680 x 2140 cm. Courtesy Marrakech Biennale 6, NOT NEW NOW. Photo: Jens Martin.
Say
“Trees grow without a blueprint,” says Anatsui, who doesn’t sketch in advance. Study his works above. Though he doesn’t plan, can you see some patterns and organization happening organically? Where? How might his method hinder or enhance his work?
Compare Anatsui’s work to a Kente cloth and Gee’s Bend quilt. How are they similar and different?
Anatsui is aware that to be creative, we must find inspiration in what is at hand. This philosophy is common among artists striving to make art against the odds. Therefore recycled materials are an obvious choice. Can you think of other artists who have found inspiration from what was at hand?
Do
Create a sculpture using recycling and cast-offs. Can you transform anything you have into a cloth-like quality? Try using pop tabs!
Watch as his NY show is installed to get a sense of the scale and quality of his work. As you can see, his ‘sheets’ are flexible and can be hung in various ways. Some report you never see the same Anatsui twice due to venue presentation.
About the Artist:
El Anatsui was born in Anyako, Ghana, in 1944 and held degrees in sculpture and art education from the Kwame Nkrumah university of science and technology, Kumasi, Ghana. A professor of sculpture at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, from 1975 to 2009, his work has been exhibited extensively in international solo and group exhibitions, including the 1990 and 2007 Venice biennales. (Designboom)
New Book Explores Anatsui’s Abstract, Innovative Sculptures: El Anatsui: The Reinvention of Sculpture by Chika Okeke-Agulu (Author), Okwui Enwezor (Author), El Anatsui (Artist)
Fold, Crumple, Crush Anatsui Quotes
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