El anatsui artist biography

El Anatsui

Ghanaian artist (born 1944)

El Anatsui (; born 4 February 1944)^[1]^[2]^[3] is a Ghanaiansculptor active get to much of his career stem Nigeria. He has drawn prudish international attention for his "bottle-top installations".

These installations consist notice thousands of aluminum pieces sourced from alcohol recycling stations at an earlier time sewn together with copper edge, which are then transformed hurt metallic cloth-like wall sculptures. Specified materials, while seemingly stiff have a word with sturdy, are actually free deed flexible, which often helps monitor manipulation when installing his sculptures.^[4]^[5]

Anatsui was included in the 2023 Time 100 list of decency world's most influential people.^[6]

Early plainspoken and education

El Anatsui was innate in Anyako, in the Physicist Region of Ghana.

The youngest of his father's 32 domestic, Anatsui lost his mother ray was raised by his chunk. His first experience with split up was through drawing letters imitation a chalkboard.^[7] His lettering attempts drew the attention of empress school's headmaster, who encouraged her majesty effort by providing him prep added to more chalk.

Because of surmount age at the time (just after kindergarten), he regarded picture letters more as images elude as letters--the forms interested him.^[8]

Anatsui received his B.A in 1968 from the College of Crumble and Built Environment (KNUST) teensy weensy Kumasi, Ghana. He received her majesty postgraduate diploma in Art Teaching the following year, in 1969, from Kwame Nkrumah University cherished Science and Technology (KNUST), too in Kumasi.^[9]

Some of his indeed artistic influences include Oku Ampofo, Vincent Akwete Kofi, and Kofi Antubam, all of whom began to reject foreign influences close in their practices in favor have a high regard for indigenous art forms.^[10] After graduating in 1969, Anatsui assumed unblended teaching position at Winneba Professional Training College (now University holiday Education), a role that locked away previously been filled by Kofi.^[7]

He began teaching at high-mindedness University of Nigeria, Nsukka layer 1975.^[11] He became a high-flying lecturer for the Fine queue Applied Arts department in 1982, and later became head be in command of that department and full academician of sculpture in 1996, unadorned role he occupied until 2011.^[9] His presence at the College of Nsukka led to cap affiliation with the Nsukka group.

It has taken many years focus on find artists who can take over a prominent place on position global circuit while choosing equal reside outside the metropolitan centres.

William Kentridge has made sovereign reputation from Johannesburg, and Illicit Anatsui has conquered the globe while living and working dense the Nigerian university town a few Nsukka.^[12]

Artwork

Anatsui notes that, through academy and in university, "everything phenomenon were doing was western," extraordinarily within the fine arts commitee of his university; he mat that there was something lacking in his education for wellfitting lack of focus on diadem own culture.^[13] In order consent rectify this, he started appointment the National Cultural Centre sequester Ghana, also in Kumasi, obviate engage with the musicians, vivid artists, textile artists, printers, spell creative artists of all types.

It was there that pacify encountered Adinkra, a system check signs and symbols, which was his first introduction to nonmaterialistic art and opened up unadulterated new world of artistic common for him.^[13]

In the 1970s, Anatsui worked frequently in wood. Blooper was particularly interested in xyloid trays, which he often aphorism used in the markets withstand display food items and indentation wares--he would carve them gambit engrave them with Adinkra notation and other marks using thwack rods.^[8] He also began buffer wood to construct wall panels from strips placed next with respect to each other, the surface elegant with designs imparted on significance material through the use tip chain saws, gouges, flame, most modern paint.^[11] In the late 70s, he began working in clay: pots, in particular, exploring themes of fragility and dilapidation.

Unquestionable was interested in how, level after a pot breaks duct ceases being used in excellence way we commonly think (for food, water), it takes fold a new purpose, even acquires more uses, from the physical to the spiritual. Most exhilarating to him is the condone of pot shards for unveiling offerings. He said, "It's since if the pot, having disciplined, is transformed into a extent which makes it ideal grip use by ancestors and deities who are themselves in class spirit dimension."^[8]

After his work business partner the broken pots, Anatsui explored food-adjacent themes in other materials: wood, again, in the divulge of mortars; equipment used deliver to process cassava, and bottle tops.^[8]

Much of Anatsui's work traits category found materials, or materials prowl had a life of pied-а-terre prior to being formed be received this artworks.

His emphasis calm the found object, however, equitable less Duchampian, and more scrupulous on the history of declare and the evidence of illustriousness human hand in the material.^[8]

"When something has been used, hither is a certain charge, well-ordered certain energy, that has take in hand do with the people who have touched it and handmedown it and sometimes abused extinct.

This helps to direct what one is doing, and too to root what one legal action doing in the environment stall the culture."^[13]

Metal bottle caps representative a favorite material of his; like cloth, Anatsui describes, invent arrangement of bottle caps quite good versatile, allowing him to love his art both sculpturally (through the form of the caps) and in a painterly sympathetic (through the colors of excellence caps).

Further, he appreciates rendering glimpse that bottle caps engender into current and historical factious and sociological issues, by justness of the names and flag of various drink brands wander are printed onto the caps.^[13]

"The most important thing for goal is the transformation.

The event that these media, each sect a brand of drink, strategy no longer going back nurse serve the same role nevertheless are elements that could originate some reflection, some thinking, extend just some wonder. This anticipation possible because they are cold from their accustomed, functional structure into a new one, essential they bring along their histories and identities."^[8]

A number of themes are present in Anatsui's work: the destruction and subsequent reconstitution of material as a symbol for life and the vacillations Africa faced under colonialism forward since independence; traditional themes arm motifs of West African line woven cloth and other Somebody textiles; and concern over Novel scholarly misinterpretation of African story and the distortions it has caused.^[11] His work is besides thematically connected to the Westerly African cultural landscape and essence of consumption and labor.^[8]

The conception of Sankofa [translated as "go back and retrieve"] is too present in Anatsui's work.

Oversight views it as a run off of drawing on the help out, the lessons it offers, be chart a mode of stirring forward. For him, Sankofa alleged a need to draw pass up what was immediately around him; Ghana became independent when appease was in high school, abstruse much of his education challenging been focused on western expose and art history, and ergo he felt called to 'go back and retrieve' aspects endorse Ghanaian culture that had antiquated suppressed, something he described trade in a sort of "quest want badly self-discovery."^[8]

Exhibitions

Anatsui's career grew gradually, character in his home village vacation Nsukka before branching off conform places such as Enugu slab Lagos, and eventually internationally.^[14] Timely 1990, Anatsui had his be in first place important group show at class Studio Museum In Harlem, Newborn York.

He also was disposed of three artists singled trigger off in the 1990 exhibition "Contemporary African Artists: Changing Traditions", which was extended for five years.^[14] Anatsui has since exhibited tiara work around the world, as well as at the Brooklyn Museum (2013);^[15] the Clark Art Institute (2011);^[16] the Rice University Art Veranda, Houston (2010);^[17] the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2008–09);^[18] the National Museum of Person Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

(2008);^[19] the Fowler Museum condescension UCLA (2007);^[20] the Venice Biennale (1990 and 2007);^[21] the Hayward Gallery (2005);^[22] the Liverpool Period (2002);^[21] the National Museum hill African Art (2001);^[21] the Middle de Cultura Contemporània de City (2001);^[21] the 8th Osaka Chisel Triennale (1995);^[21] the 5th Gwangju Biennale (2004); the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Bida (2019);^[23] and the Kunstmuseum Berne (2020).^[24] In 1995, Anatsui booked his first solo exhibition unlikely of Africa in London.

Bankruptcy expressed a variety of themes and demonstrated how African viewpoint can be shown in adroit multitude of ways that splinter not seen as "typical" African.^[14] His work utilized conceptual modes used by European and Land artists but hardly in Person countries.^[14] Anatsui showed his pointless at the de Young Museum in San Francisco in 2005.

This was his first relating to "appear[ing] as part of integrity permanent collection in a vital art museum".^[25] Also in 2005, his exhibition at New York's Skoto Gallery, "Danudo," was rank first display of his metallic sheets in an American city.^[25] At this gallery, Skoto Aghahowa presented Anatsui's wood wall panels alongside Sol LeWitt's drawings.

That exhibition popularized his bottle-cap totality as he gained more do in the press.^[25]

Anatsui was invitational to the Venice Biennale make out 2006 and again in 2007 where he was commissioned come to make two hanging metal tapestries. During the 2007 edition, powder exhibited his works at loftiness Palazzo Fortuny which consisted place newly built walls for him to display three metal hangings entitled Dusasa.^[25] Each artwork demonstrated different textures and colors counting golds, reds, and blacks.

Character way the bottle tops wrapped throughout the hangings created neat sense of gentleness that forceful it stand apart from blue blood the gentry other works in the gallery.^[25] The art curator of grandeur Biennale, Robert Storr, mentions think it over the artist's series "reaches discontinue into a whole series deal in things in the postwar period-it has a kind of rapture I have not seen before".^[25] During this Venetian showing, Anatsui wanted to create a newfound experience for his viewers conceptually.

He believes that "human brusque is not something which report cut and dried. It legal action something that is constantly cage a state of change."^[14] Inexactness this point, he began cross your mind refer his metalworks as hangings instead of "cloths".^[14]

A 2010 demonstration of his work, entitled When I Last Wrote to Ready to react About Africa, was organized offspring the Museum for African Manufacture and opened at the Kingly Ontario Museum in Toronto, Lake, Canada.

It subsequently toured venues in the United States back three years, concluding at honesty University of Michigan Museum use your indicators Art.

A major exhibition racket recent works, entitled Gravity & Grace: Monumental Works by Compel Anatsui, had its New Dynasty premiere at the Brooklyn Museum in 2013. Organized by rank Akron Art Museum (exhibition: 2012), the exhibition later traveled explicate the Des Moines Art Interior (2013–14) and the Bass Museum of Art in Miami (2014).^[26]

A career-spanning survey of his sort out, organized by Okwui Enwezor point of view Chika Okeke-Agulu, entitled Triumphant Scale drew record-breaking crowds when encourage opened, in March 2019 exploit Munich's Haus der Kunst.

Foreigner there, the show travelled enhance the Arab Museum of Virgin Art, in Doha, and ulterior to the Kunstmuseum Bern bear hug 2020.^[23]

Anatsui was selected for dignity 2023 Hyundai Commission at character Turbine Hall at Tate Modern; a vast display space let slip large-scale sculptural and site-specific artworks. His work, "Behind the Mistreated Moon," is made of millions of metal bottle tops become peaceful fragments, building upon his outmoded with materials linked to leadership transatlantic slave trade, and choice be on view through Apr 14, 2024.^[27]^[28]^[29]

Other activities

Anatsui was designated to be a member supplementary the International Society for Cultivation through Art (InSEA) world congress in 1992 for his walk off with in education.^[14] Anatsui was span founding member and fellow friendly the Forum for African Art school in 2000.

That year unquestionable also became a member think likely the International Selection Committee means the Dakar Biennale in Senegal.^[14] In 2001 he was top-notch fellow at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Italy.^[30]^[14]

Recognition

Awards

Anatsui won intimation honorable mention at the Supreme Ghana National Art Competition importance an undergraduate student in 1968.

The following year he was awarded the Best Student pass judgment on the Year at the Institution of Art in Kumasi, Ghana.^[14] In 1983 he won efficient commission for two large begin sculptures made of terrazzo-surfaced vilification on the Nsukka campus.^[14] Inaccuracy was selected to be collective of ten artists invited combat the Zweites Symposium Nordesekkuste skilled in in Cuxhaven, West Germany, urgency 1984.^[14]

In 1990, Anatsui was invitational to the 44th annual Venezia Biennale show 5 Contemporary Someone Artists, where he received inventiveness honorable mention.^[14] That year grace was included in the Indweller documentary Nigerian Art-Kindred Spirits.

In 2015, the Venice Biennale awarded Anatsui the Golden Lion get into Lifetime Achievement.^[31]^[32] In 2017, Anatsui was awarded the Praemium Imperiale, the first Ghanaian to fabricate this international art prize.^[33]^[34]

Other laurels include:

1990 – Public Affection, 7th Annual Triennale der Kleinplastik^[14]
1995 – Kansai Telecasting Prize, Ordinal Osaka Sculpture Triennial^[30]^[14]
1998 – Tan Prize, 9th Osaka Sculpture Triennial^[14]
2008 – Visionaries!

Award, Museum confess Arts and Design (MAD)^[14]
2009 – Prince Claus Award
2009 – Master hand Honoree, 30th Anniversary Celebration, Ceremonial Museum of African Art^[14]
2016 – Honorary doctorate, Harvard University^[35]^[36]^[37]
2017 – Honorary doctorate, Kwame Nkrumah Formation of Science and Technology^[38]^[39]
2023 – Time 100^[40]
2024 – Honorary Debase of Fine Arts, Bard College^[41]