El Anatsui – The Genius of Contemporary Sculpture
Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui has exploded as one of the leading contemporary artists, of his generation. Winner of the New York Museum of Arts and Design’s Visionaries 2008 award, his meteoric rise to promise belies a 40 year career and practice as artist and educator.
I was lucky to view his exhibition in New York, and it is these works that have generated so much international attention in recent years. Made from thousands of aluminum bottle tops, the sculptures are ‘draped hung murals’ that shimmer and contour with an iridescent voluminous power. They are mesmerizing in scale, and artisanal ambition. They held the visitors to the exhibition spellbound.
El Anatsui has worked predominantly in clay and wood, yet it his his woven murals made from discarded bottle tops that have really captured public imagination. Consisting of thousands of aluminum liquor bottle tops and sleeves that are woven together, the works shimmer but have a fabric like quality. I was reminded of chain mail on grand and colorful scale. El Anatsui allows the exhibitor to hang the work, and as such the work takes on a kinetic energy of its exhibitor where hanging decision are made and adjusted. It means that the works change and move, a fabulous artifact of the people that have helped share the work.
The works also remind me of traditional kente cloths of Ghana, in both drape and colour. Importantly, the use of tops from liquor bottle talks about the cultural issues associated with cheap imported liquor within the Ghanian community. From the discarded remnants of the pain of alcohol, El Anatsui weaves a tapestry rich in cultural, sociological and political overtones. The great standout is idea that from such difficulty, can evolve great beauty. It’s a beauty that cements El Anatsui’s place as one of the most important artists of our time.
