Tony Matelli

Incorporating figurative, botanical, and abstract forms in his sculpture, Tony Matelli creates uncanny objects that are both unsettling and comical. His works—characterized by hyperrealism and a twisted depiction of everyday objects like flowers and leftover consumer goods—often straddle the boundaries of absurdity and humor, raising broader existential questions. Concerned with how we define ourselves as human beings, what constitutes meaningful relationships, and the transience of life, Matelli chronicles these ideas through a playful lens whilst pushing the boundaries of his medium. The result is a subversive dialogue that deepens the conversation surrounding the possibilities of sculpture. Matelli discards traditional genre categories in favor of experiential concerns. “I like sculpture because it’s unwieldy, and there is a resistance to decoration in sculpture that I like,” Mtelli has said. Genres are at the service of ideas, not the other way around.

B. 1971 in Chicago, IL; lives and works in New York.