b. 1971 in Chicago, IL, US
Lives and works in New York, NY, US
Tony Matelli is one of the most important sculptors and provocateurs of his generation. Matelli is known for his conceptual range and material dexterity, moving deftly from uncanny, life-size figurative works to exacting and miraculous reorientations of common objects. For 25 years, Matelli’s artistic concerns have centered around the human condition, imbuing his sculptures with a surprising and deeply human vulnerability. This quality can be found in the most unlikely of objects, such as his polychrome bronze weeds, mirrors caked in dusty palimpsests of profane graffiti, and a glass of water on a box, rendered in cast optical glass. His more directly figurative works are permeated by social concerns of alienation, displacement and transformation, exemplified by works such as Josh, a figure in a floating fugue-state; the half-nude Sleepwalker, lost on New York City’s High-line; and his Garden series of broken and crumbling classical figures, adorned by an imperishable and vibrant range of fresh food—rendered in painted bronze and glass—offered in both defacement and sacrifice.
Tony Matelli (b. 1971, Chicago IL, US; lives and works in New York, NY, US) received his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has recently exhibited with Andréhn-Schiptjenko, Paris; Alone Gallery, East Hampton; Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul; 500 Capp Street, San Francisco; Marlborough Contemporary, London, UK; and The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, among others. He is in public collections worldwide, including ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark; ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark; Kunstmuseum, Bergen, Norway; Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook, MI; The Davis Museum, Wellesley, MA; MIT Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA; Musee d’arte Contemporain Montreal, Canada; Museum Ludwig, Cologne Germany; Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, Netherlands; and the State National Centre of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia.