El Anatsui at the Clark

by Chika Okeke-Agulu

The Ghanaian-born sculptor El Anatsui (b. 1944) is one of the most significant artistic innovators of our time, merging personal, local, and global concerns in his visual creations. By weaving together discarded aluminum tops from Nigerian liquor bottles, Anatsui creates large-scale sculptures called gawu ("metal" or "fashioned cloth" in Anatsui's native language) that demonstrate a fascinating interplay of color, shape, and fluidity. 

In an illustrated essay, Alisa LaGamma provides a brief history of El Anatsui's career and an analysis of his practice. The catalogue also includes a never-before-published conversation between noted artist and curator Chika Okeke-Agulu and Anatsui, as they discuss the themes of history, economy, sustainability, and identity explored within Anatsui's work. Dramatic photographs of the installations at the Clark provide a unique look at these immersive sculptures, including Intermittent Signals (2009) and Delta (2010), in the contemplative spaces of Stone Hill Center.

45 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2011

About the author

Chika Okeke-Agulu is an artist, curator, and Associate Professor in the Department of Art & Archaeology and the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University. He is author of Postcolonial Modernism: Art and Decolonization in Twentieth-Century Nigeria, a coauthor of Contemporary African Art since 1980, and coeditor (with Okwui Enwezor and Salah M. Hassan) of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, also published by Duke University Press.