
Helene Love-Allotey
Head of Department
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Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist,
The collection of Franco Bordogna.
As this captivating work was created one year after his first major appearance to an international stage in 1990 for the Venice Biennale, it could be concluded that Knives III marked a new era for the artist's career. El Anatsui had asserted himself as a front runner of contemporary African artists as he was chosen to be part of a group of five contemporary artists to represent Africa at the Venice Biennale. This was highly significant for artists from sub-Saharan Africa as it was their first time exhibiting at the Biennale.
Indeed, the present work attests to his conceptual motivation which has clearly remained present both pre and post his 1990 success.
'He saw in the chainsaw's rough tearing through soft wood as a metaphor for the way in which the western powers had carved up and brutally divided the African continent amongst themselves, ripping through and destroying both local history and indigenous culture. Similarly, the scorching of the blackened wood recalled the spiritual injuries and suffering inflicted on the African peoples by the oppression of the colonial rule.' (Yukiya Kawaguchi, 'A Fateful Journey', El Anatsui: A Sculptured History of Africa, (London, October Gallery: Saffron Books, 1995), p. 59.)