Highly original sculptor, El Anatsui is a beacon in contemporary African art. Graduating from Kumasi University of Science and Technology with art and art education degrees that focused on European traditions, he turned his attention to African aesthetics. Researching and experimenting with local symbolic vocabularies, forms, artisanal processes and materials, he has developed an open eclectic approach. Using an unusual range of natural materials and processed items, Anatsui’s artworks interrogate issues through the layers of meaning embodied in their substance and form. Erosion (1992), a 3-metre column of indigenous wood attacked by chainsaw cuts and handmade markings stands in a pile of wood chips and shavings. Fresh and Fading Memories transforms discarded liquor-bottle tops into a 9-by-6-metre cascade of shimmering fluidity. Designed to drape over a palace façade at the 2007 Venice Biennale, it refers to classical African textiles and Venetian culture, and raises issues of slavery, colonisation, wealth, waste, decay, spiritual libation and healing. Subverting notions about metal, the artwork is contingent and can be hung or folded in multiple ways. Anatsui’s work challenges many established notions and celebrates the spirit of renewal and reinvention in African cultures.
Professor of Sculpture and Head of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Anatsui is staunch defender of artistic freedom and promoter of art’s role in local development. A generous mentor and an inspiring teacher, his lifelong dedication to intellectual exploration of political and environmental issues has influenced local social and cultural development not only through his artwork but also through his influence on generations of young artists.
Portrait of El Anatsui. Photo by Uche James Iroha
Sasa 2004 installation by El Anantsui in Museum Kunstpalast Dusseldorf
Taago 2006 by El Anatsui
http://elanatsui.com/
El Anatsui at Wikipedia
El Anatsui at October Gallery
Installation of Between Heaven and Earth in Metropolan Museum of the Arts on YouTube
Arts of Africa/El Anatsui: (Re)Claiming Tradition on YouTube
