Critical Thinking On Gravity And Grace: Monumental Works By El Anatsu

Anatsui is well known for his enormous wall relief by use of metals. Concerning gravity and grace, Anatsui has incorporated a total of twelve of the most recent floor and wall monumental sculptures (Anatsui). The twelve monuments can be interpreted to represent the apex of the owner’s career. The monuments are artistically designed and arranged to get attention and a-interest of the viewers. For example, the metal wall works have been designed to use metal caps from distillery. The metal works have been joined together carefully to form a colorful and textured hanging permitting formation of new shapes. After listening to Anatsui’s story, viewers are able to relate the design of the monuments and his personal life. Being a person who has traveled a lot, from Ghana to Nigeria, his monuments present the idea of cross cultural interactions witnessed by Anatsui.
Close analysis of the monuments reveals sorts of tarpetry of both silver and gold. There are also flickers of black and red hanging loosely on the wooden wall, heavy sagging were also witnessed in the monuments. Moving closer to the monuments reveal a dull sheen of metal having unifying geometric system, having decorated with small rectangular tiles. The included textiles have rectangular divisions corresponding to Ghanaian Kente cloth. The banded strips of textiles have been painted yellow, green, black and red, representing common colors in African societies. Metallic sheen has been made from artistically joined and folded soft metallic forming different shape for every monument (Lewis).
Looking at the gravity and grace monuments, viewers are able to see international developments in the artistic work. A visit to see the monuments is worth as one is able to see a unique combination fascinating communal process, combination of stunning beauty, deep poetic as well as metaphorical meaning. Despite having many parts, the work of art is great and transcends the rich cultural influence on the artistic work.

Works cited

Anatsui, El. El Anatsui. October Gallery, 1995.
Lewis, Richard, and Susan Lewis. The power of art. Cengage Learning, 2013.