Dusasa by El Anatsui

We took several photos of two works by this artist. Born in 1944 in Ghana, Anatsui is considered one of Africa's most renowned sculptors. His art degrees are from universities in Ghana in the 1960s. Currently he is a professor of sculpture at the University of Nigeria. He had two one person shows in 2006, one in New York and one in Milan.

As you can see, this work is an enormous wall hanging or tapestry. I have no idea how heavy it is, but it is made out of small pieces of foil or wrappers from bottles. Since much of his work is done with a chain saw, I wonder whether he collected these small pieces of foil or more likely cut larger pieces in the size and shape he wanted.

You can see another photo and read more about the Biennale in an article by Michael Kimmelman in his June 15 New York Times piece reviewing the Biennale.

El Anatsui in the Arsenale

Two beautiful wall hangings by El Anatsui were seen in the overly warm Arsenale, a non-air conditioned space that housed some of the newer artists and their work. I believe these are constructed from wrappers from wine bottles or bottle caps. Small holes are punched into the pieces and the pieces are attached together by some kind of wire. We marveled at the attention to detail and care that must have been taken to construct this.