El Anatsui

Drying Line, 2021

In ‘Drying Line’, El Anatsui departs from the dense, tightly woven surfaces of his signature metal tapestries to embrace a looser, more open composition. Strands extend outward from the body of the work, evoking the casual geometry of laundry hung to dry – an everyday scene reimagined through sculptural abstraction. These free-flowing lines offer a sense of ease and release, contrasting with the more structured, grid-like compositions found in many of his earlier pieces. The interplay of form here mirrors a shift in tempo: a softening of rhythm, and an openness to air, space, and movement.

Colour plays a central role in balancing the work’s emotional register. A dialogue unfolds between warm and cooler tones – vibrant reds and golds give way to silvers and blues – creating a dynamic surface that oscillates between intensity and stillness. With ‘Drying Line’, Anatsui reflects on the contrasts he observes from his studio in Tema, Ghana: the vibrant energy of daytime activity giving way to the stillness of night. This tension – between vigour and quietude, presence and absence – is embedded in the work’s shifting textures and sprawling lines. As with his broader practice, ‘Drying Line’ resists closure, instead offering a form in flux that is alive to its surroundings, and charged with the rhythms of daily life.