El AnatsuiBlue, 2023
Renowned for his large-scale sculptures made from discarded consumer goods, El Anatsui transforms simple materials – such as aluminium bottle caps, foil wrappers, and cassava graters – into vast, shimmering assemblages with striking visual and conceptual impact. Beginning in the early 2000s, he began working with teams of studio assistants to cut, flatten, and stitch together these recycled elements using copper wire, producing monumental, tapestry-like forms that blur the line between sculpture and textile. While visually evocative of Ghanaian Kente cloth or ceremonial robes, the materials themselves speak to histories of trade, consumption and global circulation, tracing a line from colonial economies to contemporary waste culture.
Anatsui’s approach resists fixed definitions. His metal hangings are intentionally flexible and reconfigurable, taking on a new shape with each installation depending on the architecture and the curator’s input. This mutability reflects his broader interest in transformation, both material and cultural, and underscores his belief in art as a living, evolving form. In drawing connections between environmental degradation, the residue of colonialism, and systems of global exchange, Anatsui’s work operates across time and geography. It invites viewers to reconsider the value of the overlooked and the potential held in discarded things, defying easy classification while speaking to the fragility and resilience of the world we inhabit.
