Artist El Anatsui to be the featured guest at the Penny Stamps Speaker Series

By Ann Dwyer Production Asst.

Posted on Fri, Feb 1, 2013 : 10:57 a.m.

Renowned artist El Anatsui will be the featured guest at Penny Stamps Speaker Series at at Michigan Theater on Thursday. The event is offered in conjunction with the University of Michigan Museum of Art’s exhibition titled El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote You about Africa.

The Ghanaian-born El Anatsui is widely known for wall sculptures made from discarded bottle tops. "The exhibition spans four decades and encompasses work in wood, ceramic, and metal, as well as drawings, prints and paintings. In his most recent metal wall sculptures, Anatsui assembles thousands of west African liquor-bottle tops into moving patterns of stunning visual impact, transforming this simple material into large shimmering forms," according to the UMMA website.

His view sheds light on culture by transforming what is often left behind.

El Anatsui is a professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. His longtime colleague and University of Toronto Professor Elizabeth Harney will interview him.

Thursday, February 7, 2013. 5:10 p.m. The Michigan Theater is located at 603 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor.734-668-8397.