Devin Autry

10/15/14
LBST : Visual Arts

Contemporary Artist
The contemporary/ postmodern artist that I found interesting was El Anatusi. This artists
was born in Anyanko, Ghana in 1944. He now lives and works in Nsukka, Nigeria. He received a
Bachelors of Arts from the College of Art and University of Science and Technology in 1969.
He is now a professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Anatsuis sculptures are meant to
show change. They are said to be so free and flexible that they can be shaped in any way and
altered in appearance for each installation. This contemporary artist uses materials such as
wood, clay, metal and also discarded metal caps of liquor bottles to create his art pieces. In his
pieces he references the history of abstraction in African and European art. The dense, vibrant
colors of his pieces explain story of economic and cultural exchange in Africa. Much of his
work can be found in the public collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of
Modern Art, British Museum, and Centre Pompidou. In a video I watched about some of his
pieces Anatusi stated that his pieces are a reflection of his family. The one showed in the video
showed a sense of unity and togetherness. This artist work shows a rare combination of stunning
beauty, fascinating communal process and deep metaphorical meaning. He forms pieces of his
native land and traditions of Ghana. A lot of his work is about transformation. Anatsuis
assembled objects show a universal relatability.

http://www.pbs.org/art21/images/el-anatsui/chambers-of-memory-1977?slideshow=1
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/el-anatsui