El Anatsui: Five Decades

Overview

The first major Australian exhibition from Ghanian artist El Anatsui, Five Decades is an ambitious compilation of works inside Carriageworks running Sydney Festival all the way to March. Showcasing more than 30 works from the 1970s to the current day, this highly ambitious exhibition will reflect a broad thematic spectrum of the artist's themes and media, from large-scale installations to works on paper.

Beginning from Anatsui's early flair for mixing different aesthetic styles, the exhibition will trace the evolution of his practice. From 1998 onward, the artist became fixated with repurposing materials, such as wood, aluminium printing plates, tin boxes and liquor bottle tops. Also bubbling underneath his work is the rich cultural imagery of West Africa, which is tied to deeper issues around colonisation and post-colonisation.

More recently, Anatsui nabbed the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2015, proving himself to be one of the most compelling contemporary artists to watch. From January 7 to March 6, Five Decades offers the opportunity to take in some truly unique art in unique spaces.

Image: El Anatsui, Stressed World (2011), found aluminum and copper wire, 4.4 x 6.0m installed dimensions, ©El Anatsui. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.