Background
El Anatsui was born in 1944 in Anyako, Ghana.
2015
El Anatsui receives Venice Biennale's most prestigious honor — The Golden Lion, 2015.
Accra Rd, Kumasi, Ghana
El Anatsui graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with a Postgraduate Diploma in Art Education in 1969.
El Anatsui with his work "Garden Wall".
El Anatsui taking a photograph of "Broken Bridge II" on his iPad.
136 Irving Street Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
In 2014, Anatsui became a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Nsukka Road, Nsukka, Nigeria
From 1975 until now, El has been working at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
El Anatsui was born in 1944 in Anyako, Ghana.
El Anatsui studied at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, graduating with a Postgraduate Diploma in Art Education in 1969.
On May 26, 2016, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Harvard University.
In 1975, El Anatsui started to work as a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a post he held till 1982, when he was appointed a senior lecturer at the same university. In 1996, Anatsui left the position and the same year, he was promoted to the post of a Professor of Sculpture, a position he still holds. Since 1998 till 2000, he acted as the head of Fine and Applied Arts Department at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
During his lifetime, the sculptor showed his works at different exhibitions, including those at the Venice Biennale (1990, 2007), the 8th Osaka Sculpture Triennale (1995), the National Museum of African Art (2001), Liverpool Biennial (2002), the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (2008–2009), the Brooklyn Museum in New York City (2013), the October Gallery in London (2016) and others.
Also, in October 2010, a retrospective of his work, entitled "When I Last Wrote to You About Africa", was opened at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. It toured venues in the United States for three years, concluding at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Some time later, in February 2013, one of El's major exhibitions of recent works, entitled "Gravity & Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui", had its New York premiere at the Brooklyn Museum.
Although Anatsui has exhibited a diverse and extraordinary body of work for more than thirty years, he came to international prominence in 2004, when his work was included in Africa Remix, the landmark exhibition, presented in Düsseldorf, London, Paris, Tokyo and Stockholm.
Currently, Anatsui continues to live and work in Nsukka, Nigeria, maintaining close ties with his native Ghana.
El is a member of Pan-African Circle of Artists.