EL ANATSUI: NEW WORKS
by Ladun Ogidan
Last week Thursday, El Anatsui: New Works opened to the public at October Gallery London. El Anatsui, recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 56th Venice Biennale, is one of the most exciting artists of our time. This exhibition will present a new body of work by the artist that further explores the possibilities of the artist’s iconic bottle-top sculptures.
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- Rehearsal, 2015. Aluminium and copper wire, 416 x 460 cm. photo Jonathan Greet
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- Hidden Numbers, 2015. Aluminium and copper wire, 312 x 335 cm. photo Jonathan Greet
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- Focus, 2015. Aluminium and copper wire, 284 x 320 cm. photo: Jonathan Greet
Throughout a distinguished forty-year career as both sculptor and teacher – he was Professor of Sculpture and Departmental Head at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka – El Anatsui has addressed a vast range of social, political and historical concerns, and embraced an equally diverse range of media and processes. His installations have provoked wide international attention, with institutions and audiences fascinated by these sumptuous, mesmerising works made from thousands of aluminium bottle tops. During the Venice Biennale in 2007, he transformed the facade of the Palazzo Fortuny by draping it in a shimmering wall sculpture. In 2010, two major touring shows of his work opened on opposite sides of the world: El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You About Africa at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada (organised by the Museum for African Art, New York) and A Fateful Journey: Africa in the Works of El Anatsui at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan. As part of the 2012 Paris Triennale, he transformed the entire facade of Le Palais Galleria, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris with his striking work, Broken Bridge. In 2013, the Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA, exhibited the touring solo exhibition, Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, presented the artist with the prestigious Charles Wollaston Award for his work, TSIATSIA – searching for connection, 2013, which covered the entire facade of the RA building. In 2014, he was made an Honorary Royal Academician as well as elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
El Anatsui: New Works is on diplay till April 3, 2016.
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- Dzi II, 2015. Aluminium and copper wire, 281 x 324 cm. photo Jonathan Greet
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- Blood of Sweat, 2015. Aluminium and copper wire, 330 x 280 cm. photo: Jonathan Greet
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- Warrior, 2015. Aluminium and copper wire, 350 x 330 cm. photo: Jonathan Greet
www.octobergallery.co.uk
Ladun Ogidan
Ladun Ogidan is the Deputy Editor of Omenka magazine. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication from Covenant University, Nigeria. Ogidan is also Assistant Curator at the Omenka Gallery, and Chief Operating Officer at Revilo Company Limited, a leading art publishing company in Lagos. She has co-ordinated several exhibitions at home and abroad.
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