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.
$21,319Sale 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
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
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
Joan Miro - Abstract Lithograph
By Joan Miró
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Joan Miro Miro Abstract Lithograph Artist: Joan Miro Plate III from “Miro Lithographs I” Medium: Lithograph on Rives vellum Year: 1972 Image Size: 10" x ...
Lithograph
$1,480
H 9.06 in W 7.88 in D 0.04 in
Plate VI, from Joan Miro by Jacques Prévert and Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes
By Joan Miró
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Plate VI, from Joan Miro by Jacques Prévert and Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, a book published by Maeght and Printed by Mourlot in 1956. Reference: Mou...
Lithograph
$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
Joan Miro - Original Abstract Lithograph
By Joan Miró
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Joan Miro Miro Original Abstract Lithograph Artist: Joan Miro Printer : Mourlot Portfolio: Souvenirs et portraits d'artistes Year: 1972 Edition: 800 Ref...
Lithograph
$291Sale 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
$173Sale 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
$600
H 16.5 in W 10.5 in
Window Color Lithograph Print, Abstract Style, Mid-20th Century
Located in Belgrade, MT
Francis Tailleux was French born in Paris 1913-1981. He created his own style . He was influence by Gruber, Marchand and Tal-Coat. He ha many solo exhibitions in France, London and t...
Color, Lithograph
$480
H 24 in W 36 in
Inside Jupiter's Eye, Marbling Shapes in Warm Earth Tones Diptych, Giclée Print
By Ryan Rivadeneyra
Located in Barcelona, ES
Cyd Fontaine (Lausanne, 1992) is a contemporary artist renowned for her captivating use of dreamy atmospheric gradients, which has helped her carve a distinctive niche in the world o...
Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, C Print, Giclée, Archival Pigment
$173Sale Price|87% Off
H 19.69 in W 23.63 in
Green Stripes Abstract Print, Limited Edition of 10, 21st Century
By Sandra Salamonová
Located in Slovak Republic, SK
Fine Art Print, belongs to a collection "STRIPES". Limited edition of 10.
Photographic Paper, Color, Digital Pigment
$218Sale Price|84% Off
H 27.56 in W 19.69 in
Limited Edition Signed Big Foot Photography Print, Abstract Art
By Sandra Salamonová
Located in Slovak Republic, SK
Print, limited edition of 15. Signed by the author.
Color, Digital, Archival Pigment
$350
H 28 in W 20 in
Tropical Refreshing Still Life, Modern Giclée Print Limited Edition, Pink & Blue
By Ryan Rivadeneyra
Located in Barcelona, ES
"Sexy Miami Futuristic Cocktail Lounge" is a series of photographs by Ryan Rivadeneyra inspired by the Art Deco colors of Miami that show beautiful ob...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, C Print, Digital, Giclée, Archiva...
$390
H 28 in W 20 in
Pastel Tones Still Life, Futuristic Simple Shapes, Miami Inspiration, Limited
By Ryan Rivadeneyra
Located in Barcelona, ES
"Sexy Miami Futuristic Cocktail Lounge" is a series of photographs by Ryan Rivadeneyra inspired by the Art Deco colors of Miami that show beautiful objects and textures arranged meti...
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, C Print, Digital, G...
$390
H 28 in W 20 in
Sexy Miami Futuristic Cocktail Lounge, Giclée, Limited Edition, Pastel Palette
By Ryan Rivadeneyra
Located in Barcelona, ES
"Sexy Miami Futuristic Cocktail Lounge" is a series of photographs by Ryan Rivadeneyra inspired by the Art Deco colors of Miami that show beautiful objects ...
Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, C Print, Giclée, Archival Pigment
Renee's Breakfast
By John Kato
Located in Brooklyn, NY
"Renee's Breakfast" depicts a simple image of three eggs on a plate with bacon, a breakfast so familiar to many, and serves as a poignant reminder of the passage of time and the transience of even the most ordinary moments. Just as the morning sun rises and sets, casting shifting shadows and changing the hues of the yolks, so does life move forward, never standing still. The sizzling bacon mirrors life's moments, fleeting and ephemeral, yet leaving behind a savory residue of memories. In this seemingly mundane tableau, we find an allegory for the ceaseless march of time, urging us to savor each bite, each moment, for they are as precious as the breakfast on our plate. John Kato...
Archival Ink, Rag Paper
$580
H 36 in W 48 in
Space is The Place, Depp Blue Tones Diptych, Abstract Silk Shapes Limited Giclee
By Ryan Rivadeneyra
Located in Barcelona, ES
Cyd Fontaine (Lausanne, 1992) is a contemporary artist renowned for her captivating use of dreamy atmospheric gradients, which has helped her carve a distinctive niche in the world o...
Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, C Print, Giclée, Archival Pigment
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