El Anatsui’s hanging works welcome visitors to fascinating retrospective (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Brooklyn Museum
Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery, fifth floor
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Wednesday – Sunday through August 18, suggested donation $12
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

Over the last decade, Ghana-born, Nigerian-based abstract artist El Anatsui has been gaining international fame for his unique sculpture-paintings that hang from ceilings and walls and climb across floors. The works, which often resemble maps, are composed of aluminum liquor bottle caps of a multitude of colors, woven together with copper wire by a team of assistants into patterns that Anatsui then puts together to form larger pieces that evoke African history, mass consumption, environmentalism, and the intimate physical connection between people all over the world. This continuing series welcomes visitors to the outstanding Brooklyn Museum exhibition “Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui,” which also looks back at the artist’s past while revealing his fascinating process.

El Anatsui’s “Waste Paper Bags” look back at African history while also evoking modern-day environmentalism (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Much of Anatsui’s oeuvre changes every time it’s shown at a new location, hung a little differently, without the same type of lighting, allowing them to be experienced anew; they also benefit from being viewed from a distance and then close up, offering varying perspectives. The show is expertly laid out, from the mazelike hallway entrance to the side-by-side “Red Block” and “Black Block” to the inclusion of several videos that show Anatsui at work in his studio and walking around, seeking out found objects and ideas for future projects. “I don’t believe in artworks being things that are fixed,” the artist and longtime teacher has said. “You know, the artist is not a dictator.” Indeed, painted wood reliefs such as “Motley Crowd” and “Amewo (People)” from the 1980s and ’90s are meant to be altered, with curators encouraged to rearrange the blocks of wood as they see fit. It’s all part of Anatsui’s “nomadic aesthetic” and dedication to the “nonfixed form,” representing multiple materials in varying shapes and sizes while also celebrating personal freedom. His titles also capture an international flavor, with such names as “Drifting Continents,” “Earth’s Skin,” and “Amemo (Mask of Humankind).” And make sure to get up close to “Ozone Layer,” which has the added bonus of air being blown in through the wall, creating sound and movement.

“Red Block” and “Black Block” hover behind “Peak” in beautifully curated exhibition (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The exhibition, Anatsui’s first solo show in a New York museum, also features charcoal and graphite drawings, acrylic works on paper, and “Waste Paper Bags,” a collection of large-scale sculptures made of discarded aluminum printing plates that relate to Nigerian culture as well as go-bags that Ghanaian refugees packed when escaping their country in a hurry. It’s a terrific show that has been extended two weeks through August 18; there is also still time to see his “Broken Bridge II” outdoor wall piece on the High Line, which runs through September. Admission to the Brooklyn Museum is free on August 4 for the monthly First Saturdays program, the theme of which is Caribbean, with live performances by Casplash, Los Hacheros, and Zing Experience, curator talks, screenings of the omnibus film Ring Di Alarm and Storm Saulter’s Better Mus’ Come, an artist talk with Miguel Luciano, dance workshops, a discussion with author Nelly Rosario about her debut novel, Song of the Water Saints, and pop-up gallery talks focusing on specific works by Anatsui.