Wednesday, July 16, 2008

El Anatsui Quilts with Metal - DC exhibit


This last weekend I visited the National Museum of African Art on the Mall in Washington, D.C. I was blown away with the metal artwork by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui. He uses discarded metal objects to make what appears to be metal patchwork quilts. These are MASSIVE metal quilts - think KING SIZE. If you are in the DC area, you really should take time to visit this exhibit! And, if you are not within driving distance, click here to see examples of El Anatsui's work. Enjoy!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for these posts. I will be in the DC area next month, and was planning to visit some museums, probably The Smithsonian. I will definitely see the Tompkins and El Anatsui exhibits.

Kyra said...

Kathy, Thank you for your note. Hope you enjoy both exhibits! Drop a note - would love to know what you thought about the shows.

Best, Kyra

Anonymous said...

Kyra,
This work is awesome and thank you for sharing it with us.

Trish Williams

Kyra said...

Trish, Thanks for your note. Mr. Anatsui's work is awesome. It's hard to image how these pieces are mounted on the walls when one sees they are metal. The sheer weight!

Best, Kyra

Unknown said...

What a wonderful link! I love his work, something about taking the texture of cloth and transforming it into metal is apealing to me. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Metal quilts, amazing! Quilts made of anything by this artist would be amazing.

I also enjoyed the vid on the Uhuru Quilters show. I like the comb symbol for beauty they have used on thier banner.

Regretfully, I have not been to a real quilt show since May. Time and gas have become too scarce. My world is getting smaller.......

margaret said...

London has had several shows by El Anatsui, and his work is fabulous. It cuts to the heart of contemporary African culture, and also has that element of being made by several people working to a common end, as we are told "traditional" quilts were. And the British Museum has a big piece by him right at the entrance to the African gallery - brilliant!

LISA VAZQUEZ said...

Hi there Kyra! {waves}

Thank you so much for stopping by Black Women, Blow The Trumpet! and leaving a comment!

You are always welcome to return and share in the dialogue!

I am absolutely enjoying your lovely site! I love quilts and I saw the Gee's Plantation exhibit four years ago.

Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa