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Representation and Abstraction 1025

who studied sculpture in London and Tokyo. Tsuchiya is best known for his large-scale sculptures constructed of branches or dri!wood ("#$. 32-34). Despite their abstract nature, his works assert the life forces found in natural materials, thereby engag- ing viewers in a consideration of their own relationship to nature. Tsuchiya does not speci%cally invoke Shinto when speaking about his art, but it is clear that he has internalized Shinto principles. He identi%es as his goal “to bring out and present the life of nature emanating from this energy of trees. . . . It is as though the wood is part of myself, as though the wood has the same kind of life force.”6

El Anatsui. Probably the most unusual abstract artworks being created today are those of Ghana-born and -educated E& A'()*+# (b. 1944), who, unique among African artists, established his international reputation without moving his studio to Europe or America. Anatsui has spent most of his adult life in Nigeria and, even more remarkably, did not begin producing the art that has made him famous until his 60s. Bleeding Takari II ("#$. 32-35) is a characteristic example of the artistic genre that Anatsui invented, a kind of artwork that is so di,erent from all others that art histo- rians have yet to agree on a label for it. A cross between sculpture and textile design, Anatsui’s wall-based sculptures are labor- intensive constructions of crushed bottle caps, lids of aluminum cans, and other found metal, pierced and stitched together using copper wire. -e colors (primarily red, gold, and black) that Anat- sui uses have close parallels in Asante kente cloth ("#$. 38-26), and his works can be rolled or folded. When displayed on museum walls or hanging from a ceiling—or even draped on a building’s facade— the metal sheets undulate with any breeze. Anatsui’s artworks- in-motion bring to mind Alexander Calder’s pioneering mobiles ("#$. 30-21). -ey are, however, thoroughly in tune with 21st- century concerns in being assembled (by a large team of assistants) almost entirely from African recycled materials—some of which are Western along with African products, underscoring again the international character of contemporary art.

32-34 K!"!# T$%&'!(), Symptom, 1987. Branches, 139 1 12 0 * 149 9 1 8 0 *

39 11 14 0. Displayed at the exhibition Jeune Sculpture ’87, Paris 1987.

Tsuchiya’s sculptures consist of branches or driftwood, and despite their abstract nature, they assert the life forces found in natural materials. His approach to sculpture reflects ancient Shinto beliefs.

32-35 E+ A,)-$%!, Bleeding Takari II, 2007. Aluminum bottle tops and cans, and copper wire, 129 110 * 189 110. Museum of Modern Art, New York (gi. of Donald L. Bryant Jr. and Jerry Speyer, 2008).

Anatsui’s unique “metal hang- ings” are a cross between abstract sculptures and textiles. They are assemblages of thou- sands of crushed and pierced bottle caps and aluminum cans stitched together with copper wire.

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