Black Block
2010
El Anatsui
Ghanaian, born 1944
Contemporary Art
Close inspection of El Anatsui’s glistening and cascading work reveals an elaborate surface constructed from liquor bottle tops joined together by copper wire. Anatsui incorporates these discarded aluminum caps, sourced from a liquor distillery in Nigeria, into the global history of abstraction. The monumental and unfixed form references both individual and collective bodies—from the lips that might grace the alcohol bottle to the hands of now-hundreds of studio assistants who work together to manipulate and weave the metal caps.
- Maker/Artist
- Anatsui, El
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Formatted Medium
- Aluminum and copper wire
- Dimensions
- two pieces, each: 207 x 133 1/2 in., 67 lb. (525.8 x 339.1 cm, 30.39kg)
- Departments
- Contemporary Art
- Accession Number
- 2013.7a-b
- Credit Line
- Bequest of William K. Jacobs, Jr., by exchange
- Exhibitions
- Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui, I See Myself in You: Selections from the Collection, The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time
- Rights Statement
- © artist or artist's estate
- Museum Location
- This item is not on view
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