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
$20,543Sale 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
$3,600
H 48 in W 48 in
Cloud Study II - large format photograph of dramatic mood cloudscape horizon sky
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
large-scale original art photography from a series of dramatic cloud atlas observations and abstract monochromatic skyscapes above the Mediterranean Sea C...
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Giclée, Black and ...
$4,400
H 60 in W 48 in
Standing Ovation - conceptual vignette with red velvet curtain and marble floor
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
Large scale interior photograph of conceptual vignette with dark red velvet curtain and white Carrara marble floor Standing Ovation (2016) by Frank S...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
$2,200
H 30 in W 40 in
Cones - large scale photograph of conceptual art in desert landscape
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
Cones ( 2000 ) by Frank Schott, from a series of conceptual photographic observances captured in the California desert 30 x 40 inches (76 x 102cm) signed edition of 25 48 x 65 inch...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
$4,400
H 69 in W 48 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 Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
$2,000
H 40 in W 40 in
Stratosphere IV - 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 Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
$4,400
H 48 in Dm 72 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...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Giclée, Archival Pigment
$5,200
H 72.5 in W 58 in D 0.3 in
Seascape V - large format photograph of monochromatic black white water surface
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale photograph of mesmerizing monochromatic light reflections on water surface SEASCAPE V by Frank Schott 72.5 x 58 inches / 184cm x 147cm signe...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment
$7,600
H 64 in W 96 in
Seascape XVIII Diptych - large scale abstract monochromatic ocean water surface
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
Large format abstract photograph diptych of mesmerizing water surface and ephemeral abstract ripple patterns from a series of photographic works capturing the monochromatic oceanic b...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment
Werner Bronkhorst - The Champions
By Werner Bronkhorst
Located in London, GB
Werner Bronkhorst The Champions, 2025 Giclée print on Hahnemühle Photorag paper with ready-to-hang heavyweight solid oak frame. From the artist's acclaimed Wimbledon series. Accompan...
Giclée
$2,200
H 27 in W 40 in
Marfa ( Texas ) - large format photograph of dramatic clouds over endless field
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
Landscape view from rural county road outside of town, from a series of impressions captured in Marfa, Texas, longtime residence of minimalist artist Donald Judd Marfa ( Texas ) by ...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment
Damien Hirst - Forever - (Small) - Contemporary Art
By Damien Hirst
Located in Asheville, NC
Damien Hirst - Forever - Contemporary Art Artists Hirst, Damien Edition Details Year: 2020 Class: Art Print Status: Official Released: 09/15/20 Run: 2,573 Technique: Giclee Paper: Aluminum Composite Panel Size: 15.35 X 15.35 Markings: Signed & Numbered Artwork is digitally signed & numbered About Artist: Damien Hirst, a poster boy for the Young British Artists who rose to prominence in late 1980s London, is one of the most notorious artists of his generation. He has pushed the limits of fine art and good taste with sculptures that comprise dead animals...
Spray Paint, Acrylic, Giclée
$5,745
H 20.87 in W 20.87 in D 1.58 in
Long Island - Giclée Print, Contemporary, Signed, Edition of 66, 53cm
By Werner Bronkhorst
Located in London, GB
Werner Bronkhorst Long Island, 2026 Giclée print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks. Hand-stretched over FSC-c...
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