Go See ..... at the Brooklyn Museum...

El Anatsui (Ghanaian, born 1944). Gli (Wall), 2010

Gravity and Grace, Monumental Works by El Anatsui

Last week I had the great pleasure to visit the Brooklyn Museum to see the exhibit Gravity and Grace, Monumental Works by El Anatsui. It's on view through August 4th.

I am a lover of all crafts and especially love art where you can see and feel the makers hand. El Anatsui creates just that kind of art.

"This is the first solo exhibition in a New York museum by the globally renowned contemporary artist El Anatsui, The show features over 30 works in metal and wood.  Anatsui converts found materials (for example bottle caps and discarded printing plates) into a new type of art that lies between sculpture and painting. The curtain wall above made from folded, twisted and linked liquor-bottle caps, combines aesthetic traditions from his native country, Ghana; his home in Nigeria; and the global history of abstraction." (from the Brooklyn Museum)

The installation process is flexible, which is crucial to Mr Anatsui's  art; curators may ruffle 
the surfaces of the wall hangings as they please, smoothing old wrinkles or developing new ones. You can fall in love with a piece in one show and not even recognize it in its next venue.(from the NY Times)

Each of his works, although macro in scale, reveals itself as a series of micro-events. See and enjoy the details below.

Folded, twisted, flattened and linked liquor-bottle caps 

To get an idea of scale, Here I am standing next to one of the giant walls.

Below, one of my favorites, a monochromatic version.

Below is one of his earlier works in wood. Note that the strips of wood are flexible and can be rearranged to show different points of view, just like the walls.