Coal Pot by El Anatsui

EL ANATSUI Coal Pot steel and coal Gift of the artist

A new sculpture, entitled Coal Pot, was recently installed in the Museum’s sculpture garden. Designed by internationally famous artist El Anatsui and fabricated by UK sculpture Professor Garry Bibbs, it represents an on-going partnership between the University of Kentucky Art Department and the Art Museum.

Coal Pot was inspired by Anatsui’s time as a visiting artist at UK in 2003. It consists of a 15-foot iron cauldron filled with large pieces of Kentucky coal. The coal will, over several years, disintegrate and be replaced, leaving a residue that will change the appearance of the piece. As in many of his sculptures, the theme of transience is demonstrated by the choice of natural, decomposing materials.

In the artist’s home country of Ghana, coal plays an essential part in the everyday culture: as a source of heat for cooking and a valuable natural resource. Coal Pot, thus, connects African culture with the economy of Kentucky, where coal is also an important resource. The artwork was El Anatsui’s way of bringing the two cultures together.

El Anatsui was born in 1944 in Antyako, Ghana. He earned a Bachelors degree in sculpture and a Postgraduate Diploma in Art Education from the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He is professor of Sculpture at the University of Nigeria. He has won numerous international awards, and his works are in major public and private collections including: Asele Institute, The British Museum, Centre Pompidou, de Young Museum, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This collaboration is the second of three partnerships between the Department of Art and the Art Museum that have been funded by the Efroymson Fund, a donor-advised fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation which has a particular interest in supporting campus partnerships. Coal for the sculpture was donated by Ikerd Coal.

Artist, El Anatsui with one of his many installations.

The public is invited to a free lecture entitled El Anatsui: Experience of Modern African Art by Professor Bibbs at noon, on April 17, 2009 in UK's Whitehall Classroom Building.

There will be a presentation of student research on April 17 from 2:00 until 3:30 in the Student Center, Worsham Theatre.

For more information on the artist El Anatsui visit http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/gawu/index.html