Film, exhibit features art of El Anatasui

Staff report

KENT

In celebration of the Akron Art Museum’s exhibition “Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui,” which opens Saturday, Western Reserve PBS (WNEO 45.1/WEAO 49.1) will air the documentary “Fold Crumple Crush: The Art of El Anatsui” at 9 p.m. Friday.

“Fold Crumple Crush” gives an insider’s view of the artist’s practice, the ingenious steps and thousands of hours of labor that convert used bottle tops into huge, opulent wall hangings.

Anatsui, a native of Ghana, explains how his artworks have become a marriage of painting and sculpture, objects that speak of African history but also reach for the ethereal. He also talks about his aspirations for artworks he has yet to make.

The program shows El Anatsui installing work on the great world stage of the Venice Biennale; visits the small town of Nsukka, Nigeria, as the celebrated artist goes about his daily life; and follows him inside his studio directing assistants as they stitch together bottle tops into a vast, metal hanging. Finally, Anatsui admits viewers to his home where he tells about his formative years.

In addition to the Friday premiere, “Fold Crumple Crush” will air at 11 p.m. Saturday; at 9 p.m. June 18; and at 11 a.m. June 25.

The Akron Art Museum is organizing the national tour of “Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui,” and the exhibition will premiere in Akron from June 17 to Oct. 7.

Organized by interim chief curator Ellen Rudolph, in collaboration with the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, the exhibition highlights Anatsui’s most recent work and features 12 monumental metal wall and floor sculptures widely considered to represent the apex of the artist’s career. Most have never before been seen in North America.