Brooklyn Bound

Remember the "Sex and the City" episode when Miranda moved to Brooklyn and it was as if she relocated to another state, another country even?  Having never been to Brooklyn, I had no idea how spot-on SATC got it.  As it turns out, Brooklyn is very far away from my upper east side home-away-from-home but worth the trek in oppressive New York summer heat (via a sweltering subway) to visit the famed Brooklyn Museum.

On view: the first solo show in New York of globally-renowned contemporary artist El Anatsui.  Born in Ghana and living in Nigeria, Anatsui expresses themes of freedom, movement, globalization and the concept of a "nonfixed form" through a unique artistic medium: linked metal bottle caps.  The artist's discovery of a discarded bag of aluminum liquor-bottle tops over a decade ago inspired him to explore their artistic potential.

Anatsui employs up to 40 studio assistants to flatten, cut, shape, and manipulate the bottle caps into more than 30 different shapes which are hand-stitched together with wire into blocks of color and patterns.  The artist then selects and assembles the blocks on the studio floor; the composition growing and changing until the artist is satisfied with the overall pattern and form.  In linking the scraps of metal, Anatsui sees himself linking the histories of the individuals who previously touched the objects.

Two monochromatic works brought to mind luxurious fabrics and the work of painters Mark Rothko and Gerhard Richter.

Waste Paper Bags (illustrated below, foreground) is made from discarded aluminum printing plates (used for printing everything from newspaper sports pages and obituary pages to wedding invitations) manipulated to look like crumpled newspaper and formed into the shape of monumental bags.

Many of Anatsui's early works are made out of used mortars and discarded wood.  The work illustrated below is composed of individual strips of wood which can be arranged differently each time it is installed, reflecting the artist's desire for his work to remain dynamic.  These wood pieces were among the artist's first experiments in the "nonfixed form."

When working with living artists, museums often encourage them to be present during the layout and installation of their exhibitions.  One of the museum guards informed me that Anatsui did not arrive in Brooklyn until the majority of his works had been installed by museum staff.  Anatsui wishes to inspire creativity in the people charged with installing his works and says he merely provides "data" for others to reenvision and manipulate.  He was pleased with the museum's installation with one exception: a work entitled Peak (below, in the foreground).  Museum staff installed the work in such a way that the skirt part laid flat on the floor; Anatsui scrunched it up a bit to create a more wavy form.

Peak is made from the tops of Peak brand milk tins.  Drainpipe (below) incorporates the same materials.

"Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui" was a jaw-dropping exhibition of one of my favorite contemporary artists.  Equally magnificent was the museum's exhibition of watercolors by John Singer Sargent.  I was not permitted to take photographs in that show.  Click here to view Sargent's beautiful watercolors and learn more about that exhibition.