When Trash Turns Art: El Anatsui

Magda Michalska 15 February 2018 min Read

People often say that contemporary art is trash. But, can we turn the equation the other way and make trash art? El Anatsui’s grand installations show that in contemporary art everything is possible, and it can be even beautiful and striking with craftsmanship!

What Is It Made Of?

Trash Turns Art: El Anatsui
Ink Splash II 2012 El Anatsui, purchased with funds provided by the Africa Acquisitions Committee 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T14331

El Anatsui uses trash, elegantly called found material, as well as natural elements to compose his grandiose installations. One can find in his works objects that range from milk tins, bottle caps, riftwood, iron nails and printing plates. His use of recycled materials is not arbitrary. Anatsui wants to highlight this way the problems of the global consumerism to point out that there still are places in the world where people have to re-use out of necessity.

Painter or Sculptor?

El Anatsui, Between Earth and Heaven, 2006, ©El Anatsui. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, Trash Turns Art: El Anatsui
El Anatsui, Between Earth and Heaven, 2006, ©El Anatsui. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Anatsui considers himself both: although his works are installations which may be closer to scupture, they don’t have a fixed sculptural form, moreover, he essentially ‘paints’ the pattern with the varying colours of the bottlecaps. Robert Storr from Art News said that El Anatsui demonstrates that the smallest bits of scrap metal can map fields of colour and texture as lovely as a painting by Georges Seurat. Others have compared his works to mosaics, paintings by Gustav Klimt, or to traditional Ghanaian kente cloth.

El Anatsui,  Between Earth and Heaven, 2006, Trash Turns Art: El Anatsui
El Anatsui,  Between Earth and Heaven, 2006, detail ©El Anatsui. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Who is He?

El Anatsui, Trova, 2016, Jack Shainman Gallery Trash Turns Art: El Anatsui
El Anatsui, Trova, 2016, Jack Shainman Gallery

Born in 1944, in Anyako, Ghana, El Anatsui studied at the College of Art, KNUST, in Kumasi, Ghana. Nowadays he lives and works between Ghana and Nigeria. However, as his art has become more renown internationally, he began travelling and exhibiting all over the world, in places like London, New York, Osaka, Florence, Toronto. In 2016 he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale and a year later he received the Praemium Imperiale, being the first Ghanaian to win the international art prize.

Curious about other African-born artists? Check the article about modern grasp on Rococco.

Get your daily dose of art

Click and follow us on Google News to stay updated all the time

Recommended

Herstory

Female Rage in Art

Since Auguste Toulmouche’s 1866 masterpiece The Reluctant Bride recently captured the internet’s attention, discussions about female rage...

Martha Teverson 6 May 2024

European Art

Paul Gauguin in 10 Paintings

Paul Gauguin is a revolutionary and savage in the art of the late 19th century, an artist rejected by society. A man who quit his job at the stock...

Valeria Kumekina 27 November 2023

Art Forms

The Best Street Art in Athens, Greece

Athens is a strange city. On the one hand, you can see the monuments and relics of Ancient Greece that stand haughtily and imposingly. On the other...

Errika Gerakiti 8 May 2023

Art State of Mind

10 Sunny Beaches in Art

Do you remember the joy of being on the beach? How warm, how sunny, how glorious! If you miss the light and warmth, join us to explore the ten most...

Joanna Kaszubowska 23 March 2024