Born in Anyako, Ghana, in 1944, El Anatsui is widely regarded as the greatest living African artist. He has received the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale (2015), the Praemium Imperiale Award for Sculpture (2017) and the Lorenzo il Magnifico Lifetime Achievement Award (2017). His works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern; and the National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos, among others.