* El Anatsui, (b. Ghana, 1944) Signed and dated 1992 African hardwood 64 x 140cm (25.2 x 55.1in)

* El Anatsui, (b. Ghana, 1944) Signed and dated 1992 African hardwood 64 x 140cm (25.2 x 55.1in)

El Anatsui is one of Africa`s greatest contemporary artists and was the first African-based artist to achieve global "superstar” status. He was born in Ghana in 1944 but has lived and worked for much of his life in Nigeria, where he is Head of Sculpture in the Fine and Applied Arts Department at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Although his practice has evolved over a forty-year career, El Anatsui has always been fascinated by the ways in which materials can be remodelled and transformation enacted. This has led him to work with a broad range of materials, from wood to found objects like discarded bottle tops and foils employing a wide range of processes, such as sewing, welding and sawing to shape and transform the media he uses. Through this process of reinvention Anatsui reveals the complex history of cultural exchange both within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world. His work is situated in his own continent in terms of inspiration and materials but with a universal meaning that has ignited the global imagination. In his celebrated cloth works which are inspired by Ghana`s Kente cloth, the discarded tops of liquor bottles have specific historical references, alcohol being one of the principal goods traded for slaves in West Africa.

El Anatsui`s wooden sculptures pre-date his "cloth” works and are a crucial and often undervalued part of his oeuvre. `Coins on Grandma`s Cloth` was created in 1992 and is a particularly fine example from a series of wall hung works using interchangeable planks of hardwood that began in 1982 with processes involving burning, cutting and painting. Anatsui first used the chainsaw as a drawing tool in 1980 enabling him to cut through blocks of wood, leaving a jagged surface that he likened to the scars left by European colonial encounters with Africa. He produced a number of sister works referencing his grandmother`s cloth including Remnant of Grandma`s cloth in 1991 and the hanging strips of timber used in these works is in itself a reference to the weaving techniques of the Ewe and the Asante people. The use of carved planks was also inspired by the wood carvers from the Akwa area of Southeastern Nigeria who used a chip-carving technique to create geometric forms and motifs from the "Uli” aesthetic.

Since its dramatic arrival on the international art scene at the 2007 Venice Biennale, El Anatsui`s work has had unparalleled international exposure at many of the world`s greatest Museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The British Museum, The Pompidou Centre, The Smithsonian Museum, The Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf and recently at The Royal Academy in London.

Exhibited:

`When I Last Wrote you about Africa`, Museum for African Art, New York and touring to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto; The Denver Art Museum; The Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College; The Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas; The North Carolina Museum of Art and the University of Michigan Museum of Art. 2010 - 2013.

Literature:

Exhibition catalogue, `El Anatsui: When I last wrote you about Africa`, page 126.

Please note that in addition to the 20% VAT on the buyer`s premium, import VAT at the rate of 5% will be added to the hammer price. From a Private Collection Contemporary African Art Gallery, New York Click here to view Catalogue