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Just as a quilter might work with thousands of small pieces of fabric to create a larger work, Ghanaian born artist El Anatsui uses discarded bits of aluminum bottle caps to create monumentally sized works that are both visually stunning while at the same time incredibly flexible.
Each individual piece of aluminum is attached to another using small bits of wire which are then built as units. Units are joined together to form a larger piece. The entire labor intensive process can take many months.
Both the Denver Art Museum and the Brooklyn Museum offer you the opportunity to see his work in person.
"In his most recent metal wall sculptures, which have brought him global acclaim, Anatsui recycles bottle caps from a West African distillery in his home town, piecing them together to form monumental curtains patterned with row upon row of different brands of liquor bottle caps. It has sometimes been said that these sculptures and other of his artworks are about recycling, but that is not true. Anatsui is ardent that his use of found materials is about transformation—giving objects new lives as they are transformed into something else."
Denver Art Museum exhibit runs through December 30,2012.
Brooklyn Museum exhibit from February 8-August 4, 2013.
El Anatsui, Earth's Skin, detail, 2008, aluminum and copper wire.
Approximately 177 x 394 in.,
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, NY,
Photo by Andrew McAllister for the Akron Art Museum
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