Starting from scrap...

although I've been in Atlanta over a year now, i'd never been to the High Museum. i went in july to see an incredible Civil Rights photography exhibit, and ran across another exhibit in conjunction highlighting black artists from around the world. I was mesmerized by a Ghanaian sculptor, El Anatsui, who utilized found objects like food wrappers and bottle caps to make, what looked like, an enormous quilt.
about a week ago, i visited some friends in Manhattan, and they lived just a few blocks from the Met, where i found this.


El Anatsui has shown his found object sculptures all over the world. From far away, they look like soft, flowing, organic fabric.





But up close, you realize that they're made from metal and metallic plastic found on roads and in villages near his home in Nigeria. Both textures (the real and the implied texture) are incredible.


i hope that all of you will get a chance to see El Anatsui's artwork in person...but until then, visit his website for more information.

photos from El Anatsui's website, the NYT, bookofjoe, designboom, the Timeline for Art History