Art That Inspires Me: El Anatsui

A glittering gold artwork behind columns

Cover image: Museum view with El Anatsui’s Society Woman’s Cloth (Gold), 2006. Yale University Art Museum, New Haven, CT. Photo by A Scholarly Skater – all rights reserved. Because the artwork appears in the background of this image and does not appear in full, I believe that my use of this image is permissible under the principles of fair use.

All of El Anatsui’s works are very large and commanding. They’re typically colorful, and they always shine and glitter. You could stand for an hour or more and just look at all the little details of the construction and of the materials’ surface. I can’t imagine all the hours of work that went into making each piece. I’m always quite transfixed when I see one.

The thing that I find so truly inspiring about El Anatsui’s work is how he manages to take something as common and lowly as found bottle caps and turn them into something so beautiful. I mean, his art is gorgeous, and yet he makes it out of things people have thrown away! It’s uplifting to see how this sort of transformation really is possible.

I also think it’s interesting that the origins of El Anatsui’s materials are not immediately apparent. Most other found object sculptures that I’ve seen advertise that status very loudly, and your entire experience with them hinges on that. By contrast, El Anatsui’s works would be striking and worthy of attention even if you never read the wall text to learn what they’re made out of. Don’t get me wrong – his materials and their many possible connotations are definitely an important part of his message, and you’ll miss out if you don’t pay attention to it. I just admire the fact that his works have more than one dimension to them.

Quite a few major American museums own pieces by El Anatsui, including the Met, MoMA, and the Brooklyn Museum, as do a few large foreign museums. So, you’re chances of getting to see one are pretty good. Because El Anatsui’s work is not in the public domain, I can’t post larger photos of his work. If you want to see more of his work online and also learn more about his biography, you can try this article from DailyArt Magazine, this video and this article from Smart History, and many resources from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.


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The mission of A Scholarly Skater Art History is to make historical art and architecture accessible to everyone.
I’m Alexandra, an art historian who believes that looking at art can enrich everyone’s life. Welcome to my website!
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Art history is an inherently subjective field, and my perspective isn’t the only one. I encourage all my readers to seek out differing opinions and read multiple sources to get a broader and more complete view of this complex and fascinating field of study. Read my disclaimers for more information.

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