Curriculum Vitae

Born in 1944, Anyako, Ghana. Lives and works in Nigeria.

Education

1969
Postgraduate Diploma, Art Education, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana

1965–1968
B.A. College of Art, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana

 

Teaching

1996–2011
Professor of Sculpture, Fine and Applied Arts Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

1996–2011
Head of Department, Fine and Applied Arts Department, UNN

1982–1996
Senior Lecturer, Fine and Applied Arts Department, UNN

1969 – 1975
Lecturer, Art Education Department, Specialist Training College (now University of Education,) Winneba, Ghana

 

Selected Awards

 

2024

Visionary Artist Degree of Doctor – honoris causa,  University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Bard College, New York

 

2023

TIME100: The Most Influential People of 2023, Time Magazine, USA

 

2020

Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine, USA

 

2017

Praemium Imperiale Award for Sculpture, The Japan Art Association, Tokyo, Japan

Lorenzo il Magnifico Lifetime Achievement Award, XIth Florence Biennale Florence, Italy

Brandywine Workshop and Archives Lifetime Achievement Award,  Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, USA

Rees Visionary Award, AMREF Health Africa ArtBall, New York City, USA

 

2016

Honorary Doctor of Arts, 365th Commencement Ceremony, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA), 2016 graduation ceremonies, The University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa

 

2015
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

 

2014

Elected Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, MA, USA

Elected Honorary Academician, British Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK

2nd Best Monographic Museum Show in New York category,  AICA-USA, “Gravity and Grace: Works by El Anatsui”, Brooklyn Museum, NY, USA

 

2013
Charles Wollaston Award, 245th Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK

 

2009

30th Anniversary Award, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C. USA

Prince Claus Award, Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development, Lagos, Nigeria

 

2008

Visionaries Award, Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY, USA

 

1999
Public’s Prize, 7th Small-Scale Sculpture Triennial, Stuttgart, Germany

 

1998
Bronze Prize, 9th Sculpture Triennial, Osaka, Japan

 

1995
Kansai Telecasting Corporation Prize, 3rd Sculpture Triennial, Osaka, Japan

 

1990
Honorable Mention, 44th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

 

El Anatsui, Open(ing) Market (2004)
El Anatsui. Photo: El Anatsui Studio

Solo Exhibitions

 

2024
Music, Fluidity and Reinvention: El Anatsui’s Record Collection, Efie Gallery, Dubai

El Anatsui/Scottish Mission Book Depot Keta, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh

El Anatsui: After the Red Moon, Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai, China

 

2023-2024

TimeSpace, October Gallery, London

Hyundai Commission: El Anatsui, Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London

 

2022-2023

El Anatsui: Day After Night, Bakarat Contemporary, Seoul

 

2022

Shard Song, Efie Gallery, Dubai

Freedom, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town

Stairway Exhibits: El Anatsui, The Arts Club, Dubai

 

2021

El Anatsui : En quête de liberté, La Conciergerie, Paris

El Anatsui: The Ancestors Are Converging Again, Everard Read Gallery, Franschhoek, SA

 

2020

Focus on El Anatsui, October Gallery, London

El Anatsui: Triumphant Scale, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland

New Beginnings: The Epoch of African Art, Pure Lagos Gallery, Norfolk, Virginia

 

2019

El Anatsui: Triumphant Scale, Arab Museum of Modern Art (MATHAF), Doha, Qatar

El Anatsui: Triumphant Scale, Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany

El Anatsui: Recent Works, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, New Mexico, USA

El Anatsui: Material Wonder, October Gallery, London, United Kingdom

 

2018

Sedimentations: Assemblage as Social Repair, The 8th Floor, New York

El Anatsui: Proximately, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Wijnegem, Belgium

Ofrendas, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, USA

El Anatsui: MEYINA, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

The Beginning and the End, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium

 

2017

El Anatsui: Proximately, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Wijnegem, Belgium

El Anatsui:  Topology of Generosity, Bakarat Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

El Anatsui: MEYINA, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

El Anatsui: MEYINA, Prince Claus Fund Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

El Anatsui: Benchmarks, Royal Academy of Arts, Mayfair, London / October Gallery, Bloomsbury, London (London: 2017)

 

2016-2017

El Anatsui: MEYINA, Prince Claus Fund Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 

2016

Afrikas stjerne – Monumentale værker af El Anatsui (Star of Africa – Monumental works by El Anatsui), Trapholt Museum for Moderne Kunst, South Jutland, Denmark

El Anatsui: New Works, October Gallery, London, UK

El Anatsui: Five Decades, Carriageworks, Sydney Festival 2016, Sydney, Australia

 

2015

El Anatsui – Selected Works, October Gallery, London, UK

El Anatsui Of Dzi, Kunstbanken Hedmark, Kunstsenter, Hamar, Norway

El Anatsui: Five Decades, The School – Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY, USA

Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works By El Anatsui, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA, USA

 

2014

El Anatsui: New Worlds, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Mount Holyoke, MA, USA

El Anatsui: Trains of Thought, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, USA

El Anatsui: Playing with Chance, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Nigeria

El Anatsui-Theory of Se, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Hong Kong, China

Metas, Mnuchin Gallery, NY, USA

 

2012 – 2015

Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH, USA

Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui, Des Moines Art Center, IA, USA

Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui, Bass Museum of Art, Miami, FL, USA

Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

 

2013

El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You About Africa, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Tsiatsia – Searching for Connection, Royal Academy of Arts, London

 

2012 – 2013

Broken Bridge II, the High Line, NY, USA

Pot of Wisdom, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, USA

 

2012

El Anatsui: Stitch in Time, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium

 

2011

El Anatsui, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, USA

 

2010 – 2012

El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote To You About Africa, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH, USA

El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote To You About Africa, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada

El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote To You About Africa, Davis Museum, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA

El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote To You About Africa, Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, USA

El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote To You About Africa, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, USA

El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote To You About Africa, Denver Art Museum, CO, USA

El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote To You About Africa, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

 

2010 – 2011

A Fateful Journey, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan

A Fateful Journey, The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama, Japan

A Fateful Journey, Tsuruoka Art Forum, Yamagata, Japan

A Fateful Journey, The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan

 

2010

El Anatsui: Gli (Wall), Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA

El Anatsui: Wall Sculptures, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, USA

 

2009

El Anatsui (Off the Grid: 2009 Surface Design Association Conference), Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO, USA

El Anatsui: Process and Project, BRIC Arts | Media House, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Cloth Series Exhibition by El Anatsui, Art Space at Untitled, Oklahoma, USA

 

2008

Earth Growing Roots, San Diego State University Art Gallery, CA, USA

Zebra Crossing, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, USA

 

2006

El Anatsui: Asi, David Krut Projects, NY, USA, in collaboration with October Gallery, London, UK

El Anatsui: Nyekor, Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Milan, Italy, in collaboration with October Gallery, London, UK

 

2005-2006

Danudo: Recent Sculptures of El Anatsui, Skoto Gallery in collaboration with Contemporary African Art Gallery, NY, USA

 

2005

El Anatsui, October Gallery, London, UK

 

2003–2008

El Anatsui: Gawu, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, Wales, UK

El Anatsui: Gawu, Model Arts & Niland Gallery, Sligo, Ireland

El Anatsui: Gawu, Gallery Oldham, Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK

El Anatsui: Gawu, October Gallery, London, UK

El Anatsui: Gawu, Djanogly Art Gallery, University of Nottingham, UK

El Anatsui: Gawu, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL, USA

El Anatsui: Gawu, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA

El Anatsui: Gawu, Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

El Anatsui: Gawu,University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ, USA

El Anatsui: Gawu, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., USA

 

2002

El Anatsui: Recent Works, October Gallery, London, UK

 

1998

A Sculpted History of Africa, October Gallery, London, UK

 

1997

Hakpa, French Cultural Centre, Lagos, Nigeria

 

1995

El Anatsui: Sculptures and Reliefs, October Gallery, London, UK

 

1993

So Far: Drawings, Paintings, Prints 1963–1993, Italian Cultural Institute, Lagos

 

1991

Old and New: An Exhibition of Sculpture in Assorted Wood, National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria

 

1987

Venovize: Ceramic Sculpture by El Anatsui, Faculty of Art and Design Gallery, Cornwall College, Redruth, UK

Pieces of Wood: An Exhibition of Mural Sculpture, The Franco-German Auditorium, Lagos, Nigeria

 

1982

Sculptures, Photographs, Drawings, Goethe-Institut, Lagos, Nigeria

 

1980

Wood Carvings, Cummington Community of Arts, Cummington, Massachusetts, USA

 

1979

Broken Pots: Sculpture by El Anatsui, British Council, Enugu, Nigeria

Broken Pots: Sculpture by El Anatsui, Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

 

1976

Wooden Wall Plaques, Asele Art Gallery, Nsukka, Nigeria

 

 

Group Exhibitions

2024

New on View, The Art Institute of Chicago, USA

Vital Force, October Gallery, London, UK

Lines —Aligning Your Consciousness With the Flow, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan

Summer Exhibition 2024, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Echoes of Circumstance, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Frieze Los Angeles, Santa Monica, California

After Rain: Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, Jax District, Diriyah, Saudi Arabia

Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center

Art Dubai, Madinat Jumeirah, UAE

HARD/SOFT: Textiles and Ceramics in Contemporary Art, MAK- Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna

Art Basel,  Basel Switzerland

Rewilding, Kunsthaus Baselland, Switzerland

Soft Power, Das Minsk, Postdam, Germany

Variations: Selections from the Benefit Print Project, Lehman College Art Gallery, New York

Contours of Memory, Montague Contemporary, Chelsea, New York

Iraparu, Goodman Gallery, London

Rupture & Connection, Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, Texas

Kindred Spirits: A Gathering of the Aka Circle of Artists, kó art space, Ikoyi, Lagos

Ensaio Sobre a Terra, Simões de Assis, São Paulo, Brazil

Entangled Pasts, 1768–now Art, Colonialism and Change, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Art Basel Paris 2024, Grand Palais, Paris

Manual Assembly: Fragments of a Whole, The Goldfarb Gallery, York University, Canada

 

2023-2026

SALA, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art, Cape Town

 

2023-2024

Obras de la Colección del Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

Paper Trails: In Collaboration with Form and Concept, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, New Mexico

The Stuff of Life | The Life of Stuff, Sainsbury Centre, Norwich

Chaleur Humaine: Triennale Art & Industrie, FRAC Grand Large —
Hauts-de-France

Collection Highlights, Rubell Museum, Miami

Accra! The Rise of a Global Art Community, Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio

Works from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

 

2023

A Century Before, TAFETA, London

Collage / Assemblage, Adelson Galleries, Florida

Frieze Masters, Regent’s Park, London

Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach Convention Center

Art Miami, Herald Plaza, Miami

Goodman Gallery Seasonal Pop Up, Miami Design District, Florida

Art Dubai, Madinat Jumeirah Conference and Events Center, Dubai

Transvangarde: Pushing Boundaries, October Gallery, London

Tossed: Art from Discarded, Found, and Repurposed Materials, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Vermont

Ever-Present, Efie Gallery, Dubai

One That Incudes Myth, Goodman Gallery, London

Harmonizing with Nature: A Journey of Lifelong Practice, BEEAH Headquarters, Sharjah

Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Reversed Safari,  the Manege Central Exhibition Hall and Triumf Gallery, Moscow

 

2022-2023

The Bunker Artspace 2022/2023 Season, The Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach, Florida

Making a Mark: Abstraction in the Ahmanson Collection, Fieldstead and Company, California

Journeys Through the Tate Collection: The Port and Migrations, Tate Liverpool

Time is Out of Joint, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome

Sections/Intersections: 25 Years of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection, Spain

Seeing the Invisible, The National Garden, Athens

 

2022

Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach Convention Center

Frieze London, Regent’s Park, London

Fine Arts Paris & La Biennale, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris

What’s Going On, Rubell Museum, DC

FNB Joburg Art Fair, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg

Art of Enchantment, MOZA – Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv

Summer Exhibition 2022, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Art Basel, Basel

Stressed World, The School: Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Nomadic Resonance, October Gallery, London

Benefit Print Project: 10 Years and Counting, National Arts Club, New York

Africa, Imagined: Reflections on Modern and Contemporary Art, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan

Material Earth, Christie’s, London

Revival: Materials and Monumental Forms, ICA Watershed, Boston

The Clowes Pavilion Re-imagined, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana

Benefit Print Project: 12 Years of Multiple Making, Freedman Gallery, Pennsylvania

 

2021-2022

Diaspora at Home, Kadist, Paris

Benefit Print Project: 10 Years and Counting, National Arts Club, New York

Africa, Imagined: Reflections on Modern and Contemporary Art, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan

Threading the Needle, The Church, Tag Harbor, New York

 

2021

Socle du Monde Biennale 2021: Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends, Copenhagen, Denmark

Textures: A Print & Fiber Showcase, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, New Mexico

Portals, City Library (former Public Tobacco Factory), Athens

Gold and Magic, Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst, Denmark

The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time, Brooklyn Museum, New York

First Look: Recent Acquisitions & Rarely Seen Gems, MW Gallery, Flint, Michigan

The Met Unframed, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A National Treasure: Fred Meijer, His Collection and Legacy, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Seeing the Invisible, The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, Israel

Art Basel 2021, Messe Basel, Switzerland

The African Art Series, Bulgari Hotel, London

Debut Exhibition (Efie Gallery), Burj Plaza by EMAAR, Dubai

Summer Exhbition 2021, Royal Academy of Arts, Picadilly

Duende Art Projects: THREADS, Zwartzusters Monastery, Antwerp

SITE: Art and Architecture in the Digital Space, The Michigan Central Station, Detroit

Tomorrow is a Different Day: Collection 1980-Now, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Elixir, Nigerian National Museum, Lagos

Art|Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach Convention Center

Both Sides Now, projects+gallery, Missouri

Intersect Aspen 2021, Aspen Ice Garden, Colorado

 

2020-2021

Socle du Monde Biennale 2021: Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends, Copenhagen, Denmark

Making the Met, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Second Careers: Two Tributaries in African Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

252nd Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Grace Before Jones: Camera, Disco, Studio, Nottingham Contemporary, UK

The Nsukka Group: Cultural Abstraction, Kunstmatrix, Berlin

Small World Real World, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Black Stories, Des Moines Art Center, Iowa

Goodman Gallery x Marianne Boesky Gallery: Collaborative Presentation, Miami Design District, Florida

 

2020

Atmospheres: Artists of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London

Re-Materialize, Arthur Ross Gallery, Pennsylvania University

IMPART Collectors’ Show 2020, School of the Arts’ (SOTA), Singapore

Myths, Martyrs, Monsters and Masterpieces, Everard Read Franschhoek, South Africa

Goodman Gallery x Marianne Boesky Gallery: Collaborative Presentation in Miami’s Design District, Florida

 

2019-2021

Heroes: Principles of African Greatness, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C.

 

2019-2020

Layers, LaBanque Art Center, Béthune, France

Sustainable Thinking, Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, Florence

 

2019

I’ve Grown Roses in This Garden of Mine – Group Show, Goodman Gallery, London

In the Absence of Light: Gesture, Humor and Resistance in the Black Aesthetic, Stony Island Arts Bank, Chicago

Listen to the Hum, Alice Black, London

251st Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Art, London

The Moon, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

The Warmth of Other Suns: Stories of Global Displacement, The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.

Prête-moi ton Rêve [Lend me Your Dream], Maison de l’Union, Casablanca, Morocco

Prête-moi ton Rêve [Lend me Your Dream], Dakar, Senegal

Frieze New York, Randall’s Island Park, New York

Infinitive Mutability, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Hong Kong

El Anatsui: Cire Perdue, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France

Investec: Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

The Crime of Mr. Adolf Loos, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Belgium

El Anatsui: Cire Perdue, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France

Ex Africa: Storie e Identità di un’Arte Universale, Archaeological Civic Museum, Bologna

Intimate Immensity, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia

The Light Show, Denver Art Museum, Colorado

New to the Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

Biennale Arte 019, Venice

May You Live in Interesting Times (58th Venice Biennale), Venice

La Source, Villa Carmignac, France

African Art Now, MW Gallery, Flint, Michigan

Art Basel, Basel

Art Basel, Hong Kong

Global Contemporary: A Focus on Africa, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire

TEFAF Maastricht, the Maastricht Exhibition and Conference Center, Netherlands

 

2018-2021

Arts of Global Africa, Newark Museum, New Jersey

 

2018-2019

South South/Between Land and Sea: I don’t understand what you’re talking about but I know what you mean, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town

Common Threads: Weaving Stories Across Time, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA, USA

MAD Collects: The Future of Craft Part 1, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, United States

Museum Collection III – All of the Contemporary Art Collection, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Feedback: Art, Africa and the 1980s, Iwalewahaus, Bayreuth, Germany

Frieze Los Angeles, Paramount Picture Studios, California

 

2018

11ª Bienal do Mercosul, Santander Cultural, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Tissage/Tressage: Quand la Sculpture Défile, Fondation Villa Datris, France

EXPO_CHICAGO 2018, Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, Chicago

Joburg Art Fair, Sandton Convention Center, Johannesburg, South Africa

Summer 2018, Mnuchin Gallery, NY, USA

Domestic Alien, Gazelli Art House, Baku, Azerbaijan

Carnegie International, 57th Edition, 2018, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Transvangarde: Leading Contemporary Artists, October Gallery, London, UK

250th Summer Exhibition: Art Made Now, Royal Academy of Arts, London UK

Art Brussels 2018, Brussels, Belgium

Dak’Art Biennale 2018, Dakar Senegal

Exhibition by the Masters, Desiderata, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos

Masterpiece London, Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London

All Things Being Equal…, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa

BRAFA Art Fair, Brussels, Belgium

Resignifications, ZAC – Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, Sicily, Italy

Second Life, MACAAL, Marrakech, Morocco

Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach Convention Center, Florida

MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Southbank, Australia

African Metropolis: An Imaginary City, Museo Nazionale Delle Arti Del XXI Secolo (MAXXI), Rome

Private Exhibition of Seth Dei Collection, Residence of the British High Commissioner in Accra, Ghana

Parking on Pavement, The School-Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY, USA

Local/Global, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, New York

Melancholia, Boghossian Foundation, Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium

TEFAF New York, Park Avenue Armory, New York

TEFAF Maastricht, MECC, Maastricht, Netherlands

 

2017-2018

Domestic Alien, Gazelli Art House, London

The Coffins of Paa Joe…, The School-Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY, USA

 

2017

Art Basel 2017, Basel, Switzerland

Les Eclaireur: Sculpteurs d’Afrique, Palais de Papes, Avignon, France

Domestic Alien, Gazelli Art House, London

Three Dimensions: Modern and Contemporary Approaches to Relief And Sculpture, Acquavella Galleries, New York

A Journey: El Anatsui, Anish Kapoor And Jannis Kounellis, Kewenig Galerie, Berlin

Afrique Capitales: Cape of Good Hope Here We Come, Gare Saint Sauveur, Lille, France

La Terra Inquieta/ The Restless Earth, Palazzo de la Triennale, Milan, Italy

Summer Exhibition 2017, Burlington House, London

Intuition, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy

El Anatsui: Ugwu, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France

Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C.

Borderline Miniartextil, Former Church of San Francesco, Como, Italy

Threads of Connection, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Coconut Grove, Florida

The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), Maastricht Exhibition and Conference Center, Maastricht, Netherlands

 

2016-2017

African Artists as Innovators, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, California

 

2016

Art Basel, Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland

Marrakech Biennale 6: Not New Now, Marrakech, Morocco

Of A Different Nature, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, USA

Chaumont-Sur-Loire Arts and Nature Program, 2016, The Domaine of Chaumont-sur-Loire [The Chateau and the Centre of Arts & Nature], France

Green Pastures: In Memory of Thornton Dial, Sr., High Museum, Atlanta, GA, USA

The Woven Arc, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art, (The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research), Harvard University- Cambridge, MA, USA

Summer Exhibition 2016, Royal Academy of Arts, UK

12th Edition of Dak’Art, Dakar, Senegal

African Artists as Innovators, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, California

Festival International des Jardins: Gardens from the Coming Century, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France

Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design, Centre de Cultura Contemporànea de Barcelona (CCCB), Spain

 

2015-2019

Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design, Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona [CCCB], Spain

Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain

Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany

 

2015-2016

Embracing Space and Colour: Wall and Ceiling Mounted Sculpture, Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida, USA

Us Is Them, The Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH, USA

I See Myself in You: Selections from the Collection, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA

 

2015

Art Southampton, Nova’s Ark Sculpture Field, Bridgehampton, New York, USA

The Armory Show, Piers 92/94, New York, USA

The Contemporary 2: Who Interprets the World, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan

El Anatsui, 2015, Farmyard Le Fenil Gallery, The Domaine of Chaumont-sur-Loire [The Chateau and the Centre of Arts & Nature], France

Africa Africans, Museu Afro Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil

El Anatsui: Five Decades, The School – Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY, USA

Piece Work, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT., USA

Atopolis, Wiels in collaboration with Mons 2015, Manège de Sury, Mons, (Contemporary Art Centre in Brussels) Belgium

Meet Me Halfway: Selections from The Anita Reiner Collection, Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York, NY, USA

247th Summer Exhibition, 2015, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK

Field, Road, Cloud: Art and Africa, Anna K. Meredith Gallery, Des Moines Art Centre, Des Moines, IA, USA

Embracing Space and Color: Art On & Off the Wall, Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, FL, USA

Re:Purposed, The John & Mabel Ringling Museum of Art, State Art Museum of Florida, Florida State University, Sarasota, FL, USA

The Contemporary 2: Who Interprets the World? 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan

Standing and Hanging, Altman Siegel Gallery, San Francisco, California

Necessary Force: Art in the Police State, University of New Mexico Art Museum, USA

Status Quo, The School, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Art15, Olympia, Kensington, London

Garden Festival, Le Fenil Gallery, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France

 

2014

246th Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London, UK

Mise En Scène, The School – Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY, USA

The Art of Our Time: Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collections, Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain

Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa, Fowler Museum, UCLA, USA

Dak’Art Biennale, Dakar, Senegal

 

2013

Art13 London, Olympia Grand Hall, London

245th Summer Exhibition, installation of sculpture on the façade of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK

Chosen, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY, USA

Brodsky Center Gala 2013: Honouring El Anatsui and Alexandre Arrechea, Cedar Lake Theatre, New York, NY, USA

ArtZuid 2013, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Masters of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK

Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., USA

Art and Textiles, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany

Through the Eyes of Texas: Masterworks from Alumni, Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, USA

The Poetic Line, Makerere Art Gallery/Institute of Heritage Conservation and Restoration, University of Makarere, Kampala, Uganda

 

2012

El Gran Sur, 1st Montevideo Biennial, Montevideo, Uruguay

18th Biennale of Sydney: All Our Relations, Sydney, Australia

La Triennale: Intense Proximity, Palais de Tokyo/ Musée Galliera, Paris, France

African Cosmos: Stellar Art, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., USA

Dialogues with Contemporary Art, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

We Face Forward, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK

Summer Exhibition 2012, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (Façade of the Burlington House)

Environment and Object: Recent African Art, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Vermont, USA

 

2011 – 2012

Architectural Environments for Tomorrow: New Spatial Practices in Architecture and Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo; Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan

 

2011

India Art Summit 2011, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India

Art Dubai 2011, Madinat Jumeirah Conference and Events Center, Dubai

The World Belongs to You, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy

ARS 11, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland

Hunters and Gatherers: The Art of Assemblage, Sotheby’s, NY, USA

The Splendour of Truth, The Beauty of Charity, The Vatican, Rome, Italy

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas, USA

As It Is! Africa Applauded, The Mojo Gallery, Dubai

Environment and Object: Recent African Art, Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, NY, USA

Environment and Object: Recent African Art, Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

Africa Interweave: Textile Diasporas, The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida

 

2010-2011

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, Nobel Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

 

2010

Art Dubai 2010, Madinat Jumeirah Conference and Events Centre, Dubai

Who Knows Tomorrow, Alte National Galerie, Berlin, Germany

Human Rites, The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL, USA

A Collective Diary, an African Contemporary Journey, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu, Romania

 

2009-2010

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, USA

 

 

2009

India Art Summit 2011, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Art Dubai 2009, Madinat Jumeirah Conference and Events Center, Dubai

3rd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art – Against Exclusion, 3rd Moscow Biennale, Moscow, Russia

Intramoenia Extra Art – On the Ground, Underground, Castelli di Puglia, Barletta Castle, Barletta, Italy

Chance Encounters: Seven Contemporary African Artists, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India

Transvangarde: Leading Contemporary Artists, October Gallery, London, UK

Confines Extremos. Confines Urbanos, Institut Valencia D’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain

Off the Grid, Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO, USA

Homecoming, Artists Alliance Gallery, Accra, Ghana

Promoter-of- Nigerian-Art Series, Goethe Institute, Lagos, Nigeria

Embrace!, Denver Art Museum, CO, USA

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, Fundación Canal, Madrid, Spain

 

2008

Masterpieces of Modern Design: Selections from the Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, USA

Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum for Arts and Design, NY, USA

The Poetics of Cloth: African Textiles, Grey Art Gallery, NY, USA

The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, USA

Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum for Arts and Design, NY, USA

World Histories, Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, USA

Angaza Afrika: African Art Now, October Gallery, London, UK

Recycling: The Whole House, Kunstbanken Hedmark Kunstsenter, Hamar, Norway

Juego Africano de lo Contemporáneo: Pre-figuraciones Postcoloniales, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Unión Fenosa (MACUF), A Coruña, Spain

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, Hillside Terrace Galleries, Daikanyama, Tokyo, Japan

Prospect.1 New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Sonsbeek 2008: Grandeur, Sonsbeek Park, Arnhem, The Netherlands

 

2007

Artempo – Where Art Becomes Time, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy

Think with the Senses, Feel with the Mind: Art in the Present Tense (52nd Venice Biennale), Arsenale, Venice, Italy

Uncomfortable Truths: The Shadow of Slave Trading on Contemporary Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

Tapping Currents: Contemporary African Art and the Diaspora, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, USA

Un/Fair Trade: The Art of Justice, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria

From Courage to Freedom, October Gallery, London, UK

Living Masters, Terra Culture, Lagos, Nigeria

The Boys Craft, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, Israel

8th Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE

Afrika Remix, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Art for AIDS/Art Carte, Geneva, Switzerland

 

2006 – 2011

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, Rubin Museum of Art, NY, USA

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, Visual Arts Gallery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA

 

2006

Altered, Stitched and Gathered, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) NY, USA

DAK’ART 2006, 7th Biennale of African Art, Dakar, Senegal

-poiesis, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY, USA

Europe-Afrique: Regards Croisés, Ateliers des Tanneurs, Brussels, Belgium

Black Panther Rank and File, Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA

Primitivism Revisited: After the End of an Idea, Sean Kelly Gallery, NY, USA

Expanding Africa: New Art, New Directions, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, USA

Body of Evidence, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., USA

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, CA, USA

The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL, USA

 

2005

In the Making: Materials and Process, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

Out There, Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, Norwich, UK

AKA . . . of Age 2005, Maison de France, Lagos, Nigeria

de Young Museum, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, USA

 

2004 – 2007

Afrika Remix, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany

Afrika Remix, Hayward Gallery, London, UK

Afrika Remix, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Afrika Remix, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Afrika Remix, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

Afrika Remix, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

 

2004

A Grain of Dust, A Drop of Water, 5th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea

Intelligence Now!, October Gallery, London, UK

 

2003

Africa Informs, October Gallery, London, UK

Biennale of Ceramics in Contemporary Art, Villa Groppallo, Vado Ligure, Italy

Transfer(t)s, Palais de Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium

Homage to Asele, National Museum Lagos, Nigeria

Selected Works, Skoto Gallery, NY, USA

 

2002

The Independents, Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art, Liverpool, UK

 

2001–2002

The Happy Face of Globalization, 1st Albissola Ceramics Biennale, Albissola, Italy; Musée Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland

 

2001

El Tiempo de Africa, Centro Atlantico Arte Moderno, Las Palmas, Canary Islands; Consejería de Cultura de Comunidad, Madrid, Spain

Encounters with the Contemporary, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., USA

Africas: The Artist and the City, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), Barcelona, Spain

News from the Front, October Gallery, London, UK

Jazz and Visual Improvisations, Katonah Museum of Art, NY, USA

Ebony Soliloquy: A Five Year Retrospective (1996–2001), Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA, USA

Messagers de la Terre, Rur’Art– Espace d’Art Contemporain d’Lycée Agricole Xavier Bernard, Rouille, France

 

1999

New Colours From Old Worlds, October Gallery, London, UK

The Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK

Les Champs de la Sculpture, Champs Elysées, Paris, France

Contemporary Art from West Africa, October Gallery, London, UK

 

1998

7 Triennale der Kleineplastik, Stuttgart, Germany

9th Osaka Sculpture Triennale, Osaka, Japan

Riddle of the Spirits – Twelve African Artists, Skoto Gallery, NY, USA

 

1997

The Poetics of Line: Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C., USA

Free Form and Precision, Contemporary African Art Gallery, NY, USA

 

1996

Container ’96: Art Across Oceans, Langelinie, Copenhagen, Denmark

Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK

Images of Africa, Torpedohallen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Africana, Sala 1, Rome, Italy

Transforms, October Gallery, London, UK

Group Exhibition, Avant-Garde Gallery, Kaduna, Nigeria

El Anatsui & Tesfaye Tessema, Contemporary African Gallery, NY, USA

El Anatsui & Sol Le Witt, Skoto Gallery, NY, USA

 

1995 – 1996

An Inside Story – African Art of our Time, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

An Inside Story – African Art of our Time, Tokushima Modern Art Museum, Tokushima, Japan

An Inside Story – African Art of our Time, Himeji City Museum of Arts, Himeji, Japan

An Inside Story – African Art of our Time, Koriyama City Museum of Art, Koriyama, Japan

An Inside Story – African Art of our Time, Marugame Inokuma-Genichiro Museum of Contemporary Art (MIMOCA), Marugame, Japan

An Inside Story – African Art of our Time, Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, Japan

 

1995

AKA ’95, Bona Gallery, Enugu, Nigeria

AKA ’95, Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria

Contemporary African Art, World Intellectual Property Organisation Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland

6th Osaka Sculpture Triennale, Osaka, Japan

Seven Stories about Modern Art in Africa, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK

Seven Stories about Modern Art in Africa, Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden

Configura 2, Dialog der Kulturen, Erfurt, Germany

The Right to Hope, Johannesburg Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa -touring to Cairo, Egypt; Amman, Jordan; Gaza, Isreal; Jerusalem, Isreal; Tel Aviv, Isreal

Africus, 1st Johannesburg Biennale, South Africa

Uli Art– Master Works, Skoto Gallery, NY, USA

 

1994

Arte/Sociedad/Reflexion, 5th Havana Biennale, Cuba

AKA ’94, Bona Gallery, Enugu, Nigeria

AKA ’94, Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria

 

1993

New Currents ’93 – Avant-Garde Nigerian Art, Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria

Six African Artists, October Gallery, London, UK

AKA ’93, Bona Gallery, Enugu, Nigeria

AKA ’93, Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria

 

1992

Arte Amazonas, Modern Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; travelled as: Klima Global to Staatliche Kunalle, Berlin, Germany; and to Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany

AKA ’92, Bona Gallery, Enugu

AKA ’92, Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria

AKA ’92, Begegnung mit den Anderen, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany

 

1991

El Desafi de Colonization, 4th Havana Biennale, Cuba

South of the World, Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea, Marsala, Italy

AKA ’91, Bona Gallery, Enugu; Goethe-Institut, Lagos, Nigeria

Works by a Group of African Artists, The World Bank Art Society Gallery, World Bank Headquarters, Washington D.C., USA

The Sculptor’s Guild of Nigeria Inaugural Exhibition, Murtala Mohammed Park, Enugu, Nigeria

 

1990

Five Contemporary African Artists (44th Venice Biennale), Venice, Italy

The Calabash 1st Art Exhibition, The Calabash, Lagos, Nigeria

AKA ’90, The Presidential Hotel, Enugu, Nigeria

AKA ’90, Goethe-Insitut, Lagos, Nigeria

Achebe Celebration Exhibition, Continuing Education Centre, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

Contemporary African Artists: Changing Tradition, The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY, USA

Contemporary African Artists: Changing Tradition, African-American Museum in Philadelphia [formerly Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum], Philadelphia, PA, USA

Contemporary African Artists: Changing Tradition, Chicago Public Library Cultural Centre, Illinois, USA

Contemporary African Artists: Changing Tradition, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington D.C., USA

Contemporary African Artists: Changing Tradition, The Museum of the National Center of African-American Artists (NCAAA), Boston, MA, USA

 

1989

Zeitgenössische Nigerianische Kunst, Bonn, Bocholt and Mönchengladbach, Germany

 

1988

Walls and Gates – El Anatsui & Liz Willis, Avant-Garde Gallery, Kaduna, Nigeria

Thoughts and Processes – El Anatsui & Ndubisi Onah, The Italian Cultural Institute, Lagos, Nigeria

AKA ’88, Nigerian Union of Journalists’ Press Centre, Enugu, Nigeria

AKA ’88, Contemporary Art Gallery, Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria

AKA ’88, National Gallery of Crafts and Design, Lagos, Nigeria

 

1987

AKA ’87, The Presidential Hotel, Enugu, Nigeria

AKA ’87, National Gallery of Crafts and Design, Lagos, Nigeria

Original Prints from the 3rd Nsukka Workshop, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Goethe-Institut, Lagos, Nigeria

 

1986

AKA ’86 – Inaugural Exhibition of the AKA Circle of Artists, the French Centre, Enugu and Goethe-Institut, Lagos, Nigeria

Nigerian-German Prints, University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Franco-German Auditorium, Lagos, Nigeria

 

1983

Four Contemporary African Artists, Mintec Gallery, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

 

1982

Okike 10th Anniversary Exhibition, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

 

1981

Drawing on the World, Billingham Art Gallery, UK

Drawing on the World, Middlesborough Art Gallery, UK

Drawing on the World, The House of Commons Gallery, London, UK

 

1979

Christian Arts in Nigeria, Holy Trinity Cathedral Hall, Onitsha, Nigeria

The Nsukka School, Art Gallery of the Rivers State Council for Arts and Culture, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

 

1975

Dyed Fabric Wallhangings, Burnt-Scorched Wooden Wall Plaques, The Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

 

1974

Tekarts Expo 5, National Arts Centre, Accra; Specialist Training College, Winneba, Ghana

 

1969 – 1970

Ghana National Collection, National Arts Centre, Accra, Ghana

Ghana National Collection, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., USA