Ghanaian artist and sculptor El Anatsui uses humble found materials — mostly famously, bottle caps — to make monumental artworks. Currently living and working in Nigeria, Anatsui is known for defying categorization, with sculptures that have been described variously as resembling quilts, animal hides, chainmail, lace and mosaics. He also creates smaller-scale abstract prints with a similar look and energy.
Anatsui was born in 1944 and earned his bachelor’s degree from Ghana’s Kumasi College of Arts, Science and Technology in 1968. He followed it up with a postgraduate diploma in art education and took his first teaching post at the University of Education in Ghana in 1969. In the late 1970s, Anatsui began creating his own art, mainly in terra-cotta, inspired by traditional African forms.
In 1982, Anatsui became a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he continued to teach until 2011. Over the 1980s, he branched out and experimented with materials like wood, giving him greater freedom of scale, pattern and color. Over time, he began to use smaller pieces of metal stitched-together copper wire to build grandiose sculptures, which became his signature look and technique. In addition to bottle caps, Anatsui is known for using printing plates, iron nails, railroad ties and tin cans.
Whatever material he chooses for any given piece, Anatsui ensures that it has a connection to Africa, often sourcing from local recycling stations. His work is an exploration of the environment, waste, colonialism, local traditions, consumption and the connections between all of these facets. In the process, he transforms discarded items into beautiful art installations.
In 2008, Anatsui was recognized for his contributions to art with a Lifetime Achievement award at the Venice Biennale. His work has been exhibited all over the world, including at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka and Rice Gallery in Houston. In 2022, Damiani Publishers released a 360-page book titled El Anatsui: The Reinvention of Sculpture, which chronicles his life and work.
On 1stDibs, find El Anatsui prints and other art.
Paper and Silver
By El Anatsui
Located in Toronto, Ontario
El Anatsui (b. 1944) is an acclaimed Ghanian sculptor working out of Nigeria. Known for his large-scale tapestry-like metallic sculptures created from discarded resources, Anatsui dr...
Copper, Wire
$20,436Sale Price|20% Off
Paper and Silver by El Anatsui hand-sculpted aluminium sculpture African Art
By El Anatsui
Located in Zug, CH
El Anatsui uses typically discarded resources such as liquor bottle caps, cassava graters and newspaper printing plates, to create both floor-based sculptures and shimmering wall pie...
Metal, Copper, Wire
Price Upon Request
Variation I (B)
By El Anatsui
Located in Saint Louis, MO
El Anatsui Variation I (B), 2014 Pigment print with hand collage and copper wire 23 x 30.2 inches (58.4 x 76.8 cm) Edition of 16
Wire
$2,200
H 27 in W 40 in
H2O I Homage to David Hockney - abstact pattern pool surface water reflections
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Light reflections of glistening sunlight on turquoise aquamarine water surface, large format photograph of sun reflecting on a summer pool, an homage to the iconic pool reflections p...
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Giclée
$4,400
H 60 in W 48 in
Winter Moon Rising - large scale photograph of abstract nocturnal California sky
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
Winter Moon Rising by Frank Schott 60 x 48 inches / 152cm x 122cm signed edition of 7 40 x 32 inches / 102cm x 81cm signed edition of 25 archival quality fine art pigment print li...
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée, Archival Ink, Archival Paper
$1,800
H 40 in W 31 in
Persephone VI - large format photograph of a timeless environmental still
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale original photograph from the body of works 'Persephone', a series of environmental still-life photographs of timeless palimpsest impressions Persephone VI by Erik Pawassar 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) signed edition of 25 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) signed edition of 7 archival fine art pigment print signed & numbered by artist on label custom/larger sizes are available on request ____________________________ Erik Pawassar's work focuses on the beauty of the disregarded or mundane object. The subjects for his striking and captivating visuals are typically set in the most ordinary environments, drawing the viewer into a charged but serene experience based on composition, palette and formal lines. Saturated in color, the nominal subjects gather a haunting and mesmerizing quality, creating a poignant pretext for the making of a formal color photograph. Decisively capturing the traces left by humanity, Pawassar's images are filled with a sense of universal nostalgia and pay homage to the passage of time and the extinguished moment, referencing documentary and street photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastian...
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Ink, Giclée, Archival Paper
$2,000
H 40 in W 28 in
Stratosphere I - large format photograph of abstract liquid water cloudscapes
By Christian Stoll
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale photography of mesmerizing color compositions of liquid cloudscape painting in water, hypnotizing abstract liquidscapes from the bo...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
$5,800
H 48 in W 100 in
Hemisphere IV - large format photograph of abstract liquid cloudscapes in water
By Christian Stoll
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale photography of mesmerizing color compositions of liquid cloudscape painting in water, hypnotizing abstract liquidscapes from the body o...
Giclée, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
$4,400
H 48 in W 64 in D 0.3 in
Cowboy TV - large format photograph of iconic western in American landscape
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale original photograph of vintage TV set with iconic western movie in American wild west landscape Cowboy TV by Frank Schott is available in three edition sizes: 48 x 64 inches (122 x 162cm) signed edition of 7 30 x 40 inches (76 x 102cm) signed edition of 25 58 x 77.25 inches (148 x 148cm) signed edition of 7 archival fine art pigment print signed & numbered by artist on certificate label _____________________________________ Frank Schott grew up in Germany and attended the prestigious Academy of Arts in Cologne, studying under Professor Arno Jansen, who was an early influence. Moving to California in 1998, Schott's work has evolved to include the epic landscapes and deserts of the American West as well as architectural, conceptual and more formal environments from both home and his travels. Influenced by a number of photographic peers and precursors such as Candida Höfer, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Jeff Wall, Ed Rusha...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
$34,998
H 36.2 in W 49.6 in
Cannizaro H4-4 Damien Hirst Contemporary Art Diasec-mounted Giclée Print Street
By Damien Hirst
Located in Draper, UT
Damien Hirst Cannizaro H4-4 Diasec-mounted Giclée print on aluminium panel 920 x 1260 MM Edition size: 75 + 5 AP signed and numbered from an edition of 75 verso, published by HENI Editions; sheet: 92 x 126cm Damien Hirst first came to public attention in London in 1988 when he conceived and curated "Freeze," an exhibition in a disused warehouse that showed his work and that of his friends and fellow students at Goldsmiths College. In the nearly quarter of a century since that pivotal show (which would come to define the Young British Artists), Hirst has become one of the most influential artists of his generation. His groundbreaking works include The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991), a shark in formaldehyde; Mother and Child Divided (1993) a four-part sculpture of a bisected cow and calf; and For the Love of God (2007), a human skull studded with 8,601 diamonds. In addition to his installations and sculptures, Hirst’s Spot paintings...
Metal
$3,800
H 60 in W 48 in
Persephone II - large format photograph of a timeless environmental still
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale original photograph capturing frozen palimpsest of a person's existence Persephone II by Erik Pawassar 60 x 48 inches (152 x 122cm) edition of 7 signed 40 x 32 inches...
Giclée, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Photographic Paper
$295Sale Price|82% Off
H 27.56 in W 19.69 in
Win WIN Abstract Print, Limited Edition Signed, 21st Century, 70x50 cm
By Sandra Salamonová
Located in Slovak Republic, SK
Abstract fine art print, limited edition of 15. Signed by the author, inspired during a difficult tennis match (lines and cinder).
Color, Digital, Archival Pigment
$175Sale Price|88% Off
H 23.63 in W 27.56 in
Abstract Fine Art Print, Signed Limited Edition of 15
By Sandra Salamonová
Located in Slovak Republic, SK
Fine Art Print. Limited edition of 15, signed by the author.
Photographic Paper, Color, Archival Pigment
$175Sale Price|87% Off
H 19.69 in W 23.63 in
Blue Stripes Abstract Print on Photographic Paper, Limited Edition
By Sandra Salamonová
Located in Slovak Republic, SK
Print, belongs to a collection "STRIPES". Limited edition of 10. Signed by the author.
Photographic Paper, Color, Archival Pigment
$3,600
H 48 in W 48 in
Hemisphere I - large format photograph of abstract liquid cloudscapes in water
By Christian Stoll
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale photography of mesmerizing color compositions of liquid cloudscape painting in water, hypnotizing abstract liquidscapes from the body of works titled 'Hemisphere' Hemisp...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
Black and Silver
By El Anatsui
Located in Toronto, Ontario
El Anatsui (b. 1944) is an acclaimed Ghanian sculptor working out of Nigeria. Known for his large-scale tapestry-like metallic sculptures created from discarded resources, Anatsui dr...
Copper, Wire
Sold
H 64.18 in W 61.03 in D 1.97 in
Checked Key by El Anatsui, Limited Edition, Wall Sculpture, Metal, Contemporary
By El Anatsui
Located in Zug, CH
El Anatsui Checked Key 2022 Hand sculpted and formed UV cured acrylic resin inkjet on aluminum with irregular hand-cut edges and copper wire 163 × 155 × 5 cm (64.2 × 61 × 2 in) Signe...
Metal, Copper, Wire
Sold
H 64.18 in W 61.03 in D 1.97 in
Checked Key by El Anatsui, Limited Edition, Wall Sculpture, Metal, Contemporary
By El Anatsui
Located in Zug, CH
El Anatsui Checked Key 2022 Hand sculpted and formed UV cured acrylic resin inkjet on aluminum with irregular hand-cut edges and copper wire 163 × 155 × 5 cm (64.2 × 61 × 2 in) Signe...
Metal, Copper, Wire
Striped Flags
By El Anatsui
Located in New York, NY
This work is offered by CLAMP in New York City.
Metal
El Anatsui Zebra Crossing, First Edition
By El Anatsui
Located in valatie, NY
El Anatsui zebra crossing. New York: Jack Shainman Edition, 2009. First Edition foiled hardcover with no dust jacket as issued. 174 pp. Art book on the ...
Paper