Artworks by El Anatsui at Lillian Heidenberg Fine Art on artnet

El Anatsui

(Ghanaian, born 1944)

El Anatsui

Gold Band, 2020

Price on Request

El Anatsui

Striped Flags, 2023

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El Anatsui

VARIATION 1_B, 2014

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El Anatsui

Metal Cloth, 2023

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Biography

Timeline

1944: born in Ghana, Africa
1965 - 1969: BA (Art) College of Art, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
1968: Honourable Mention, First Ghana National Art Competition, Accra, Ghana.
1969 - 1975: Lecturer, Art Education Department, Specialist Training College (now University of Winneba), Winneba, Ghana
1969: Postgraduate Diploma in Art Education, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
: Best Student of the Year, College of Art, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
1975 - 1982: Lecturer, Fine and Applied Arts Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria (UNN)
1980: Artist-in-Residence, Cummington Community of Arts, Massachusetts, USA
1982 - 1985: World Council Member, International Society for Education through Art (INSEA).
1982 - 1996: Senior Lecturer, Fine and Applied Arts Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria (UNN)
1985: Visiting Artist, Cornwall College, Redruth, UK.
1990 - 1992: World Council Member, International Society for Education through Art (INSEA).
1990: Honourable Mention (Joint), 44th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy.
1991: Fellow, Pan-African Circle of Artists (PACA).
1995: Kansai Telecasting Corporation Prize, 3rd Osaka Sculpture Triennale, Osaka, Japan
1996: Professor of Sculpture, Fine and Applied Arts Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria (UNN)
: Visiting Artist, International People’s College. Helsingør, Denmark.
1997: International Visitor, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA.
1998 - 2000: Head of Department, Fine and Applied Arts Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria (UNN)
1998: Bronze Prize, 9th Osaka Sculpture Triennale, Osaka, Japan
1999: The Public’s Prize, 7. Triennale der Kleinplastik, Stüttgart, Germany.
: Cyfuniad International Artist’s Residency, Plas Caerdeon, Barmouth, Wales, UK
2000: Founding Member and Fellow, Forum for African Arts.
: Member, International Selection Committee, Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal
2001: Residency and Fellowship, Civitella Ranieri Centre, Umbertide, Italy
2003: Residency, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
: Visiting Artist, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee; University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; University of California, Santa Barbara, California and St. Lawrence University, New York, USA.
: Lives and works between Ghana and Nigeria

Exhibitions

2015 - 2016: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2016:
Us Is Them, The Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH
2015: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2015:
El Anatsui, Le Fenil Gallery, The Domain of Chaumont-sur-Loire, France (solo)
El Anatsui: Five Decades, The School, Kinderhook, NY (solo)
El Anatsui, Kunstbanken Hedmark Kunstsenter, Hamar, Norway (solo)
Re:Purposed, The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, State Art Museum of Florida, Florida State University, Sarasota, FL
Field, Road, Cloud: Art and Africa, Anna K. Meredith Gallery, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA
Embracing Space and Color: Art On & Off the Wall, Vero Beach Museum of Art
Meet Me Halfway: Selections from the Anita Reiner Collection, Cristin Tierney Gallery
Piece Work, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT
Summer Exhibition 2015, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Atopolis: WIELS @ Mons 2015, Manège de Sury, Mons, Belgium
Standing and Hanging, Altman Siegel Gallery
Necessary Force: Art in the Police State, University of New Mexico Art Museum
The Contemporary 2: Who Interprets the World? 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
Surface Tension, Flag Art Foundation, New York
2014: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2014:
El Anatsui: Trains of Thought, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
El Anatsui, Mnuchin Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
El Anatsui at 70, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Nigeria, Africa (solo)
El Anatsui: New Worlds, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA (solo)
2013: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2013:
TSIATSIA – Searching for Connection, Royal Academy of Arts, London (solo)
2012 - 2015: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2012-2015:
Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui, Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio; Traveling to: Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, Bass Museum of Art, Miami, FL, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA (solo)
2012 - 2014: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2012-2014:
Museum, New York; Des Moines Art Center, Iowa; Bass Museum of Art, Miami, USA (solo)
Denver Art Museum, Colorado; University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (solo)
2012 - 2013: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2012-2013:
Broken Bridge II, the High Line, New York, USA (solo)
2012: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2012:
Pot of Wisdom, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
Stitch in Time, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium (solo)
2011: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2011:
El Anatsui, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA (solo)
2010 - 2012: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2010-2012:
El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote To You About Africa, organised by the Museum for African Art, New York, USA
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada; Davis Museum, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA (solo)
Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
2010 - 2011: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2010-2011:
A Fateful Journey, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka; The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama;
2010: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2010:
Gli, Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA (solo)
Gli, Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA (solo)
2009: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2009:
El Anatsui, Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA (solo)
Process and Project, BRIC Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, USA (solo)
2008: El Anatsui Selected Exhibitions in 2008:
Earth Growing Roots, San Diego State University Art Gallery, San Diego, USA (solo)
Zebra Crossing, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
: Nyekor, Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Milan, Italy, in collaboration with October Gallery, London, UK (solo)
2006: Asi, David Krut Projects, New York, USA, in collaboration with October Gallery, London, UK (solo)
: Danudo: Recent Sculptures of El Anatsui, Skoto Gallery in collaboration with Contemporary African Art Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
: El Anatsui: Gawu, October Gallery, London, UK (solo)
: El Anatsui: Gawu, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Florida, USA (solo)
: Skoto Gallery (in collaboration with Contemporary African Art Gallery, New York) (solo)
: Danudo: Recent Sculptures of El Anatsui (solo)
2005: De Young Museum, San Francisco, USA
2004 - 2006: Afrika Remix, Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany and touring to the Hayward Gallery, London, UK; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
: University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, USA (solo)
: Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, USA (solo)
: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA (solo)
: Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Florida, USA (solo)
: Djanogly Art Gallery, University of Nottingham, UK (solo)
: October Gallery, London, UK (solo)
: Model Arts & Niland Gallery, Sligo, Ireland (solo)
2003 - 2008: El Anatsui: Gawu, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, Wales, UK (solo)
: ; The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA (solo)
: Africa Informs, October Gallery, London, UK.
: Biennale de Ceramica dell’ Arte Contemporanea, Villa Groppallo, Vado Ligure, Italy.
2003: El Anatsui: Gawu, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, Wales, UK. An Oriel Mostyn Gallery exhibition touring to Model Arts & Niland Gallery, Sligo, Republic of Ireland, Gallery Oldham, Oldham, England, UK, October Gallery, London, UK, Djanogly Gallery, University of Nottingham, England, UK and the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Florida, USA. (solo)
2002: One: The Independent, Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art, Liverpool, UK.
: El Anatsui: New Works, October Gallery, London, UK. (solo)
: New Works, October Gallery, London, UK (solo)
: New Works, October Gallery, London, UK (solo)
2001: Encounters with the Contemporary, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA.
: The Happy Face of Globalisation, The 1st Albissola Ceramics Biennale, Museo Civico d’ArteContemporanea and Museo della Ceramica Manlio Trucco, Albissola, Italy, touring to Musée Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland.
: Africas: The Artist and the City, Centro de Cultura Contemporania Barcelona (CCCB), Barcelona, Spain.
2000: El Tiempo de Africa (Africa’s Time), Centro Atlántico Arte Moderno, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.
: The Independent, Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art, Liverpool, UK.
1999: New Colours From Old Worlds: Contemporary Art from West Africa, October Gallery, London, UK.
1998: 7. Triennale der Kleineplastik, Stüttgart, Germany.
: Thoughts and Processes– El Anatsui & Ndubisi Onah, The Italian Cultural Institute, Lagos, Nigeria.
: A Sculpted History of Africa, October Gallery, London, UK (solo)
1997: Hakpa, French Cultural Centre, Lagos, Nigeria, Africa (solo)
: Hakpa, French Cultural Centre, Lagos, Nigeria. (solo)
: The Poetics of Line– Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group, The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA
: El Anatsui & Sol Le Witt, Skoto Gallewry, New York, USA
: El Anatsui & Tesfaye Tessema, The Contemporary African Gallery, New York, USA.
1996: Container ’96– Art Across Oceans, Langelinie, Copenhagen, Denmark.
: Group Exhibition, Avant-Garde Gallery, Kaduna, Nigeria.
1995: El Anatsui, October Gallery, London, UK. (solo)
: AKA ’95, Bona Gallery, Enugu and Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria.
: Art In The Shadow, The Nigerian Pavillion at Africus– 1st Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa.
: El Anatsui: Sculptures and Reliefs, October Gallery, London, UK (solo)
1994: 5th Havana Biennale, Havana, Cuba.
1993: New Currents ’93– Avant-Garde Nigerian Art, Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria.
1992: Begegnung mit den Anderen, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany.
: Old and New: An Exhibition of Sculpture in Assorted Wood, The National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria. (solo)
: Old and New: An Exhibition of Sculpture in Assorted Wood, National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria, Africa (solo)
1991: AKA ’91, Bona Gallery, Enugu and Goethe Institut, Lagos, Nigeria.
: South of the World, Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea, Marsala, Italy.
1990: Five Contemporary African Artists, 44th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy.
1989: Zeitgenössische Nigerianische Kunst, Bonn, Bocholt and Mönchengladbach, Germany.
1988: AKA ’88, Nigerian Union of Journalists’ Press Centre, Enugu; Institute of African Studies, Nsukka and the National Gallery of Crafts and Design, Lagos, Nigeria.
: Walls and Gates– El Anatsui & Liz Willis, Avant-Garde Gallery, Kaduna, Nigeria.
1987: Venovize: Ceramic Sculptures, Faculty of Art and Design Gallery, Cornwall College, Redruth, UK. (solo)
: Pieces of Wood: An Exhibition of Mural Sculpture, The Franco-German Auditorium, Lagos, Nigeria. (solo)
: Original Prints from the 3rd Nsukka Workshop, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Goethe Institut, Lagos, Nigeria
: Venovize: Ceramic Sculpture by El Anatsui, Faculty of Art and Design Gallery, Cornwall College, Redruth, UK (solo)
: Pieces of Wood: An Exhibition of Mural Sculpture, The Franco-German Auditorium, Lagos, Nigeria, Africa (solo)
1986: Nigerian-German Prints, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the Franco-German Auditorium, Lagos, Nigeria
1983: Four Contemporary African Artists, Mintec Gallery, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
1982: Okike 10th Anniversary Exhibition, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
: Sculptures, Photographs, Drawings, Goethe Institute, Lagos, Nigeria. (solo)
1981: Drawing on the World, Billingham Art Gallery, Billingham; Middlesborough Art
1980: Wood Carvings, Cummington Community of Arts, Cummington, Massachusetts, USA. (solo)
1979: Broken Pots: Sculpture by El Anatsui, British Council, Enugu and the Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. (solo)
: Christian Arts in Nigeria, Holy Trinity Cathedral Hall, Onitsha, Nigeria.
1976: Wooden Wall Plaques, Asele Art Gallery, Nsukka, Nigeria. (solo)
1975: Fabric Wall Hangings, Burnt Wooden Wall Plaques, The Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
1974: Tekarts Expo 5, Accra Arts Centre, Accra, Ghana.
: Public Collections
African Studies Gallery, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Musée Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland.
Asele Institute, Nimo, Nigeria.
The British Museum, London, UK.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC, USA.
Diamond Bank of Nigeria, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
French Cultural Centre, Lagos, Nigeria.
Ghanaian Embassy, Copenhagen, Denmark.
The Hammermill Collection, Hellebaek, Helsingør, Denmark.
International Peoples’ College, Helsingør, Denmark.
Museum of Art, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
Iwalewa-Haus, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
The National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Lagos, Nigeria.
The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA.
Osaka Foundation of Culture, Osaka, Japan.
Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
The World Bank Art Collection, Washington DC, USA.
Centre Pomipdou, Paris, France
Museum kunst palast, Duesseldorf, Germany
Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Clarks International Art Collection, Somerset, UK

Literature

2003: Anatsui, El, ‘Personal Security’ in Biennale de Ceramica dell’ Arte Contemporanea, 2003,
: Eulise, Eriberto, Afriche, Diaspore, Ibridi– Conceptualism as a Strategy in Contemporary African Art, 2003, AIEP Edizione, Bologna, Italy. pp. 182.
2002: Fall, N. & Pivin, J. L. (eds.), An Anthology of African Art in the 20th Century, 2002 , Editions
2001: Africas: The Artist and the City, 2001, Centro de Cultura Contemporania Barcelona (CCCB), Barcelona, Spain. pp. 94-97.
: Visona, M. B. et al., A History of Art in Africa, 2001, Hall and Abrams, New York, USA. pp. 226-227.
2000: Kemp, Martin (ed.), The Oxford History of Western Art, 2000, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. p. 488.
1999: Oguibe, O. & Enwizor, O. (eds) Reading the Contemporary, African Art from Theory to the Marketplace, 1999, INIVA, London, UK. pp. 156-157, 163-164.
: Kasfir, S-L., Contemporary African Art, 1999, Thames & Hudson, London, UK. pp. 17. 189.
: King, Catherine, ‘Modern Art in Nigeria– Independence and Innovation’, in King, Catherine (ed.), Views of Difference, Different Views of Art, 1999, Yale University Press, London, UK. pp. 215-219.
1998: Oguibe, Olu, ‘Beyond Death and Nothingness’, African Arts, Volume 31 No. 1, 1998, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA. pp. 48-55.
: Njami, Simon, ‘Un artiste sur le fil de l’histoire’, in El Anatsui: A Sculpted History of Africa,
: Picton, John, ‘Patches of history’ patching up my art history: some reflections on the sculpture of El Anatsui’ inEl Anatsui: A Sculpted History of Africa,1998, Saffron Books, (Imprint of Eastern Art Publishing), in conjunction with the October Gallery, London. pp. 17-26.
1997: Marcoci, Roxana, New Art, 1997, Harry N Abrams Inc., New York, USA.
1996: Container ‘96, København Kulturby Fond ‘96, 1996, Copenhagen, Denmark. pp. 11-12.
1995: Okeke, Chika, ‘The Quest: from Zaria to Nsukka’, in Seven Stories about Modern Art in Africa
1994: Okeke, Chika, ‘Slashing Wood, Eroding Culture: Conversation with El Anatsui’, NKA The Journal of Contemporary Africa Art, Issue 1, 1994, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1993: Udechukwu, Obiora, El Anatsui So Far: Drawings, Paintings, Prints, 1963-1993, 1993, Norbert Åas, Boomerang Press,Bayreuth, Germany.
1992: Begegnung Mit Den Anderen (Begin With The Others) , 1992, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
: Kennedy, Jean, New Currents, Ancient Rivers: Contemporary African Artists in a Generation of Change, 1992, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC, USA. pp. 17, 19.
1990: Plagens, Peter, ‘Africa meets the West: Three New Exhibitions Capture the Spirit and Struggle of Black Artists on Two Continents’, Newsweek, 19 January 1990, New York, USA.
: Wallach, Amei, ‘The New African Tradition’, Newsday, 28 January 1990, New York, USA. pp. 16-17.
: Aniakor, C. C., ‘El Anatsui: Visual Incantations’, The International Review of African American Art, Vol 9 No. 3, 1990, Los Angeles, California, USA.
: Brenson, Michael, ‘Contemporary Works from Africa’, The New York Times, 19 January 1990, New York, USA. p. 32.
: Ejiogu, E. ‘African Art in transition’, African Commentary, Amherst, April 1990, USA. pp. 67-68.
1987: Jegede, Dele, ‘Exploring Patterns and Forms of Nature’, The Guardian (Lagos) , 8 February 1987, Lagos, Nigeria.
1986: Fosu, Kojo, 20th Century Art of Africa, 1986, Gaskiya Corporation, Zaria, Nigeria. pp. 202, 205 and 207-209.
1985: Dwyer, G. ‘A Burly North Sea Symposium: Ten Sculptors Create Works on Germany’s Wet Desert’, International Sculpture, 1985, Washington DC, USA. pp. 8-9.
1982: Anatsui, El, Sculptures, Photographs, and Drawings, Goethe Institute, Lagos, 1982, SNAAP Press, Enugu, Nigeria.

El Anatsui

(Ghanaian, born 1944)

El Anatsui

El Anatsui

El Anatsui

El Anatsui

Biography

Timeline

Exhibitions

Literature

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