El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You about Africa

About this book

El Anatsu began his artistic career as a young artist in Ghana where he built sculpture primarily from wood. He has continued to use wood throughout his practice particularly during his early years as lecturer of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. As his art grew so too did the range of his materials. Over three decades he has incorporated found metal and other media infusing the work with references to personal cultural and global histories. At the Venice Biennale in 2007 El Anatsui stunned the world with two monumental sculptures made from thousands of liquor-bottle tops stretched between columns. This career retrospective includes a selection of the artists most important objects including ceramic wood and metal pieces as well as rare paintings prints and drawings that complement his sculpture. This is the most comprehensive examination of Anatsuis work to date.