"I believe artists are better off working with whatever their environment throws up"
If you haven't had the chance to see El Anatsui's work yet you must go see the exhibition currently at the National Museum of African Art. The admission is free and it is worth the trip. ( Currently showing until September 2nd, 2008) I've been a fan of Anatsui's work for sometime now and seeing it in person allowed for an up close look at his process with the material. I am intrigued by an artists technique with a material so I am always eager to have an up close look at how it was constructed. From afar his pieces are these beautiful tapestries that look soft and fluffy. When you move closer you notice that they are composed of thousands of pieces hand tied together. It's organized chaos. I found myself focusing on one section but quickly moving to another to try to read the fine detail on labels. It is really tempting to get extremely close. I was amazed at how large his pieces were. Each piece is collapsible and hangs slightly different each time. The work develops organically and unpredictable ways. He works with about 15 assistants which become a part of the process. Anatsui says he begins to understand both the material and the different touches or styles of each assistant.
Here are some images I've gathered from the internet. Most of the pieces I included are at the museum. Enjoy.
Up close look at his materials. His most recent work uses discarded metal objects. Several of his metal "cloths" are constructed with aluminum wrappings from the tops of bottles that once contained spirits from local distilleries. The three-dimensional sculptures are made of the discarded tops of evaporated milk tins, rusty metal graters and old printing plates, all gathered in and around Nsukka, Nigeria, where the artist has lived and worked for the last 28 years.
This image is from the 2007 Venice Biennale. Anatsui had two very larger pieces in the exhibition.
Below is a link to the museums website.
LINK CLICK HERE
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