I found out recently that I am a very privileged student, because I get my artwork displayed at the ROM, along with the world renowned artist El Anatsui. And because of that I'm going to share some information about him.
Anatsui is a sculpter, born in 1944 in Anyako, Ghana, and was taught at the College of Art, University of Science. He has been working as a professor at a Nigerian University for about thirty years.
Much of Anatsui's work is based on traditional Ghanaian beliefs. The mediums he uses change a lot; once it was clay, mixed normally with manganese. After, he made wall panels with wood strips placed next to each other; he cut and burned designs into them.
Some of the themes of his work are destruction and reconstitution, as mentioned before, he likes to base things off traditional Ghanaian and African beliefs and cultures.
Most recently, he has taken hard, ugly metal liquor bottle caps taken from garbage and turned them into something beautiful and flowing. He wants to get rid of metal's usual stereotype of hard, rigid, stiff, rusty material, and let people see that it can be soft, and it can be beautiful. Some also resemble African cloths.
His artwork has focused on a wide range of social, historical and political issues. The art can have many meanings. A historical example is that European traders used liquor bottles as currency when they wanted slaves, and the liquor was usually a product of slave labour. Anatsui's artwork reminds people of this.
Anatsui's work is extraordinary to me, especially his metal cloths. They jump out at me and they look so delicate and soft to touch. He makes me think that metal doesn't always have to be a hard, heavy, ugly brick. It looks almost delicate, like it would tear if anyone were to touch it, and I never would have thought of metal in that way before I saw his work.
I am ecstatic that I am going to be working with such a talented artist at the ROM, and I know it's going to be an experience I'll never forget.
Works Cited:
"Brahim El Anatsui." African Success. 14 Jul 2007. African Success, Web. 15 Feb 2010
Worth, Alexi. "A Thousand Bottles." The New York Times. 02 Feb 2009. The New York Times, Web. 15 Feb 2010.
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