el anatsui gli (wall)

el anatsui – gli (wall) at: rice gallery, houston, texas, USA from: 28 january to 14 march, 2010

el anatsui, gli (wall) in progress, 2010 commission, rice university art gallery all photos: © nash baker

earlier this week el anatsui‘s gli (wall) exhibition opened at the rice gallery in houston, texas.

a native of ghana and resident of nigeria since 1975, el anatsui has experimented throughout the years with a variety of media including wood, ceramics, and paint. although anatsui was a respected artist and teacher in africa for more than thirty years, he was little known internationally until ten years ago when he began creating dazzling suspended sculptures made from liquor bottle tops and metal foil collars from the bottle necks.

el anatsui creating his wall installation

el anatsui was born in anyako, ghana in 1944, and holds degrees in sculpture and art education from the kwame nkrumah university of science and technology, kumasi, ghana. a professor of sculpture at the university of nigeria, nsukka from 1975 to 2009, his work has been exhibited extensively in international solo and group exhibitions, including the 1990 and 2007 venice biennales.