The team at Carnegie Museum of Art unpack Palettes of Ambition, the Ghanaian artist’s monumental artwork conjured from everyday waste
El Anatsui is known for transforming discarded, everyday materials into tapestrylike works that at once challenge the boundaries between art and craft, and weave together cultural and political histories. His work Palettes of Ambition, Carnegie Museum of Art’s most meaningful single art acquisition in the last 50 years, is a monumental wall-hung sculpture measuring ten metres long and five metres high. Anatsui’s work, located at the museum’s front entrance, welcomes the public into the museum and invites viewers to reflect on questions around materiality, history and the power dynamics that underlie notions of wealth and value. It also asks viewers to consider the following: whose ambition does this work allude to?
Palettes of Ambition is composed of thousands of discarded aluminium bottle caps, metal seals and other materials, stitched together with copper wire to form a vast, flowing, intricately patterned installation. The materials and making mirror Anatsui’s broader artistic practice in which he makes use of leftover materials to interrogate histories of consumption, colonialism and global interconnectedness, all while transmuting waste into a work of art.
Anatsui’s work can be read in reference to the rich histories of both Ghanaian kente cloth, a handwoven textile traditionally made by the Asante and Ewe peoples, and renowned for its vibrant patterns and symbolism – as well as European tapestry-making, which served both decorative and functional purposes. Historically, kente cloth was reserved for royalty and ceremonial occasions, embodying notions of prestige and cultural identity. The intricate weaving process of kente also reflects themes of labour, craftsmanship and storytelling, each of which resonates with Anatsui’s work. In Palettes of Ambition, Anatsui channels the visual rhythms of kente cloth through his meticulous assembly of bottle caps and metal fragments. In its form and presentation, Palettes of Ambition likewise recalls the European tapestry, a medium that is also historically associated with wealth and status. Usually made to adorn the walls of royal courts and noble households, these textiles were displayed as emblems of power, and often illustrated biblical stories, historical events and mythological narratives. While Anatsui’s Palettes of Ambition evokes the grandeur of historical tapestries, instead of using silk or wool, he crafts his work from industrial refuse, disrupting traditional notions of luxury.
Palettes of Ambition does not depend on rare or expensive resources; instead, its value lies in the labour and creativity involved in its construction. By transforming everyday waste into a monumental artwork, he invites viewers to reconsider the relationship between material worth and artistic value, and blurs the boundaries between what is considered ‘fine’ art or craft. The title hints at the human drive for success and material gain, as well as the societal structures that uphold these aspirations. The use of discarded bottle caps –many of which reference brands tied to global trade and colonial histories – serves as a potent metaphor for consumption, waste and the uneven distribution of resources.
Palettes of Ambition is a reincarnation of an earlier site-specific work titled Three Angles, which Anatsui presented in 2018 at the 57th Carnegie International, the longest-running North American exhibition of international art organized every four years by Carnegie Museum of Art. This major acquisition by the museum positions Anatsui’s work among those by celebrated sculptors of historical importance and marks a significant contribution to the museum’s collection, which can be described as a living archive of past Carnegie Internationals. A tapestry that draped across the exterior of Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Three Angles was made up of Anatsui’s signature bottle caps as well as locally sourced materials including aluminium printing plates from Knepper Press. Following its presentation, Three Angles was dismantled, and parts of the sculpture were returned to Anatsui’s studio, while the local components were recycled. Anatsui would spend the next five years re-piecing the remaining parts of Three Angles into this new work.
Now installed in Carnegie Museum of Art’s Scaife Lobby, Anatsui’s use of discarded metals in Palettes of Ambition resonates deeply with Pittsburgh’s history as an industrial powerhouse. Once known as the ‘Steel City’, Pittsburgh played a pivotal role in the production of steel and other metals that fuelled America’s economic growth during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The city’s industrial legacy is echoed in Anatsui’s transformation of discarded materials into art, symbolising resilience, reinvention, and the potential for beauty in overlooked or discarded elements. By repurposing industrial waste, Anatsui weaves the narratives of Pittsburgh’s historical labour-intensive industries and broader colonial histories with his own meticulous, labour-driven creative process.
Visit Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh to find out more.
Artwork Credit:
El Anatsui, Palettes of Ambition, Carnegie Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Karl Salatka
Video credits:
Director, Producer, Editor: Max Cianci
Director of Photography: Raffaele DiLullo
Music: Dylan Kersten
GoPro Footage: Mary Wilcop
© Carnegie Museum of Art, 2025
