El Anatsui

Book excerpt: This expanded and revised edition celebrates the work of Ghanaian artist El Anatsui by exploring the artist's life and the trajectory of his remarkable career. El Anatsui: Art and Life by Susan Mullin Vogel is the essential resource on the Ghanaian artist known worldwide for spectacular tapestries of reclaimed bottle tops. This revised and expanded book follows Anatsui on his remarkable journey from an obscure university town in Africa to the summit of the global art world. Vogel, whose exhibitions and books have influenced African art history, analyzes Anatsui's unique art form, often quoting the artist's interviews with her. She describes his engagement with African traditions, his early work in clay and wood, a triumphant decade exhibiting radiant metal cloths, then a profound development in the second decade, presented here for the first time. The book takes us inside his busy studio, revealing the gritty reality and the subtle genius of his bottle-top hangings, exhibited in museums and biennials across the world.