How does El Anatsui make his work?
El Anatsui (b. 1944 Ghana; lives and works in Nigeria) transforms simple materials into complex assemblages that create a distinctive visual impact. His typical material palette includes discarded resources such as liquor bottle caps, printing plates and cassava graters to create sculptures that defy categorization.
Does El Anatsui work alone?
He flattened and fastened the aluminum caps together to create massive compositions. Because these mosaics would take hundreds of thousands of man hours to do alone, El Anatsui employs a team of assistants who work with him in what he describes as a “collaborative and contemplative setting.”
What is El Anatsui contribution to art?
Anatsui also refers to himself as both a painter and a sculptor. He essentially ‘paints’ and builds up colour and pattern with the bottle-caps – with his works have been compared to traditional Ghanaian kente cloth, Western mosaics, tapestries and paintings by Gustav Klimt.
What is El Anatsui best known for?
Visual arts
Sculpture
El Anatsui/Known for
What is the training of El Anatsui?
He trained at the College of Art, University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi in central Ghana. His work with sculpture and wood carving started as a hobby to keep alive the traditions he grew up with. He began teaching at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975, and has become affiliated with the Nsukka group.
How does El Anatsui benefit from being in Nsukka?
El Anatsui’s ability to leverage international capital to patronize local suppliers and materials has positive benefits for the local economy of Nsukka.
What techniques does El Anatsui use?
Anatsui uses clay, wood and found objects to create sculptures based on traditional Ghanaian beliefs and other subjects. He has cut wood with chainsaws and blackened it with acetylene torches.
Why did El Anatsui use bottle caps?
With the bottle caps, the story I’ve been telling is about transatlantic trade and the goods – including human goods – which were sent from Africa to America to produce rum and other things, which came back to Europe and then finally to Africa. So the drink represented here by bottle caps links all three continents.
What inspires El Anatsui?
El Anatsui: Gawu | Artworks. As Anatsui explains, his new series of work was inspired by “huge piles of detritus from consumption,” such as the mountains of milk tins and bottle tops that have been growing throughout West Africa due to limited recycling technology.
What medium does El Anatsui use for his work?
Sculpture
El Anatsui/Forms
Where did El Anatsui get his first experience with art?
The youngest of his father’s 32 children, Anatsui lost his mother and was raised by his uncle. His first experience with art was through drawing letters on a chalkboard. He trained at the College of Art, University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi in central Ghana.
Where did El Anatsui go to College in Ghana?
El Anatsui was born in Anyako, in the Volta Region of Ghana, and trained at the College of Art, University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, in central Ghana. He began teaching at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975, and has become affiliated with the Nsukka group.
What kind of symbols does El Anatsui use?
Anatsui incorporates “Adinsubli”, a portmanteau of uli, nsibidi, and Adinkra symbols, alongside Ghanaian motifs, into his works. Anatsui said that in developing his art he looked for “something that had more relationship to me, as someone growing up in an African country”.
When did El Anatsui become a member of InSEA?
Anatsui was selected to be a member of the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) world council in 1992 for his work in education. Anatsui was a founding member and fellow of the Forum for African Arts in 2000. That year he also became a member of the International Selection Committee for the Dakar Biennale in Senegal.