El Anatsui

Biography of El Anatsui

Internationally acclaimed Ghanaian artist El Anatsui (born 1944) emerged from the West African post-independence art movement with his strikingly experimental sculptures. At the core of his practice is the re-appropriation of ordinary objects and materials, including graters, nails and most iconically, bottle-tops. The bottle-tops are woven into enormous tapestries that are reminiscent simultaneously of refined and graceful filigree and weighty chain mail, drawing connections between social structures, environment and consumption.

 

El Anatsui has brought the signature elements of his shimmering sculptures into his print work, often integrating copper wire and other everyday materials, and printing directly onto found metal sheets.

 

El Anatsui was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale 2015, and his works are featured in public collections across the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, the British Museum, London, and the Museum of Modern Art, NYC. 

Available Works: 4