Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Aug 04 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Starred Review When El Anatsui was a teenager, his home, a British colony, became the independent country of Ghana. "We could decide to do things on our own terms," comments the artist, with the shift reflected in his outside-the-box creativity and changing old materials into something new. This striking book, vividly illustrated in paint and cut-paper collage, showcases Anatsui's signature works: flowing tapestries made from deconstructed bottle tops. Goldberg describes the artist's early life and artistry and then focuses on how he executes his famous fabrics, which have been exhibited in museums worldwide. As well as learning about Anatsui's art, readers can gain here some important insights into the creative life ldberg emphasizes that Anatsui doesn't work alone; a team gets the bottle tops into their new forms. It is also instructive to learn that the artist (who reviewed Goldberg's text) isn't always sure how to proceed artistically or that the results will be popular. Best of all, readers will find out that nobody in this man's town was an artist, but he still found his way to success. Robust back matter includes source notes, citations for quotes, and an art activity. Use this excellent biography alongside Shelley Pearsall's The Seventh Most Important Thing (2016) in units on found-object art; it also deserves a place on public library shelves.

Horn Book (Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

This picture-book biography is a fascinating introduction to Ghanaian artist El Anatsui and his innovative artistic process. Early pages present Anatsui's childhood love of artmaking in the British colony of the Gold Coast. When he was a teenager, in 1957, his country achieved independence as the nation of Ghana, and Goldberg stirringly writes, "With this new freedom, he felt a shift." Anatsui's own words follow: "We could decide to do things on our own terms." Words and pictures guide readers to see how liberation on this national scale translated into Anatsui's artistic quest to freely express himself by experimenting with diverse media and developing new techniques. Zunon's (I Am Farmer, rev. 1/19; Grandpa Cacao, rev. 5/19) use of paint and cut-paper collage is particularly well suited to depicting Anatsui's life and artistry; it echoes his own evolving process of using found materials and assembling them in his artwork. Throughout, the illustrations' style is largely realistic, and shifts in visual perspective invite the reader to home in on pivotal moments. For example, when Anatsui finds a discarded bag of bottle tops at the side of the road, Zunon spotlights him holding one. The next spread eschews background detail to show Anatsui's hands manipulating the bottle tops as he develops a technique for creating the massive, fabric-like sculptures that brought him international acclaim. Back matter provides additional context and sources while inviting readers to get their own hands involved in creating art. Megan Dowd Lambert

Kirkus Reviews

An introduction to the work of El Anatsui.In this half-baked biography of the acclaimed Ghanaian artist, Goldberg attempts to string together a comprehensive description of the subject's life and art-with special attention to his striking sculptures made from bottle caps-and the politics that shaped both. Compelling illustrations-in paint and collage and supported with photographs of Anatsui's original works in the backmatter-convey aspects of the artist's life, though they may not hold a young reader's attention as well as a sparkling, 30-foot-tall fabric sculpture. With little to no background on how Anatsui rose to prominence in the global art scene and only the lightest of touches on the political background in Ghana, why he left to live in Nigeria, or why the trans-Atlantic slave trade might be an important topic for his art, the writing lacks a clear driving theme or message. Passable for those familiar with the work but otherwise flimsy, this book falls prey to the trap of oversimplification on too many fronts, among them the development of an artist, the importance of contemporary African art abroad, and the concept of reusing and recycling; even the "art activity" proposed in the backmatter leaves something to be desired. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Lacking structure. (author's note, text sources, quotation sources) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Fascinated with the artistic and political potential of turning discarded objects and scrap into art, Ghanaian artist El Anatsui (b. 1944) incorporates “materials with a history” into his work, as detailed in this process-oriented picture book. Following his country’s independence from Britain, Anatsui finds a torn garbage bag filled with bottle caps, “shining silver, red, yellow, and blue,” and discovers that by disassembling them, flattening the bands into strips, and then connecting the strips and the circular tops, he can create huge swathes of material that visually favor traditional kente cloths. Resembling “an enormous, shimmering cloth” (one piece is 30 feet tall), El’s work tells stories of colonialism, interpersonal contact, and resilience—and takes the art world by storm. In straightforward prose, Goldberg weaves a story of art and ingenuity about an artist who “has always written his own story.” Zunon’s richly hued paint and collage art, meanwhile, chronicles both the excitement and slow work of creating a wholly new artistic medium. Back matter includes an author’s note and an art activity. Ages 7–11. (June)