Tony Matelli
The weed is a triumph and a failure at the same time. Weeds persevere; you can’t kill them. They are a celebration of unwantedness.
Incorporating figurative, botanical, and abstract forms in his sculpture, Tony Matelli creates uncanny objects that are both unsettling and comical.
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Tony Matelli495, 2020painted bronze24.13 x 33.02 x 17.78 cm
9 1/2 x 13 x 7 in -
Tony Matelli526, 2020painted bronze33.02 x 20.32 x 38.1 cm
13 x 8 x 15 in -
Tony Matelli542, 2020painted bronze38.1 x 20.32 x 25.4 cm
15 x 8 x 10 in -
Tony Matelli543, 2020painted bronze58.42 x 20.32 x 25.4 cm
23 x 8 x 10 in -
Tony Matelli548, 2020painted bronze
unique14 x 10 x 19 in
35.6 x 25.4 x 48.3 cm -
Tony Matelli564, 2020painted bronze66 x 27.9 x 30.5 cm
26 x 11 x 12 in -
Tony Matelli565, 2020painted bronze25 1/2 x 11 x 8 in
64.8 x 27.9 x 20.3 cm -
Tony MatelliHalf Buddha Two Oranges, 2020granite painted bronze45.72 x 68.58 x 40.64 cm
18 x 27 x 16 in -
Tony MatelliFigure (w/Strawberries), 2019concrete painted bronze157.48 x 40.64 x 40.64 cm
62 x 16 x 16 in -
Tony MatelliHead (Strawberries), 2019concrete, painted bronze25.4 x 45.7 x 25.4 cm
10 x 18 x 10 in -
Tony MatelliYesterday 56, 2019painted bronze rub on transfers urethane beer can111.76 x 40.64 x 45.72 cm
44 x 16 x 18 in
I like sculpture because it’s unwieldy, and there is a resistance to decoration in sculpture that I like. Genres are at the service of ideas, not the other way around.
Tony Matelli is an American contemporary artist who creates uncanny objects that are at once seductive, illusory, comical, and slightly unsettling. Incorporating figurative, botanical, and abstract forms, his bronze sculptures feature ropes frozen in mid-air, as if the ropes were dropped on a plinth and cast just before collapsing into inert coils. Other works rely on unusual juxtapositions, such as his weeds series in which plants sprout from the space between gallery walls and floors. Across his oeuvre, and particularly in his mirror paintings, Matelli discards traditional genre categories in favor of experiential concerns.
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I see myself less as a sculptor than as an image maker
The Art Newspaper 19.5.2020Paris. On that April day when we are talking on the phone, Tony Matelli works alone in his New York studio, where he is usually...Read more -
Some of the world’s greatest artists photographed in lockdown by Maryam Eisler
LUX Magazine 12.5.2020Darius Sanai for LUX magazine LUX Contributing Editor and artist Maryam Eisler has been photographing some of the world’s greatest artists over FaceTime and WhatsApp...Read more
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FIAC 2021
Online Viewing Room 4 - 7.03.2021It's rendez-vous online! Discover a selection of historical and new works of the gallery’s most important and internationally acclaimed artists.Read more -
Tefaf Maastricht 2020
20 - 31.12.2020Established in 1988, TEFAF is widely regarded as the world’s pre-eminent fair of art and antiques. TEFAF champions the finest quality art from across the...Read more -
ARCO Madrid 2020
20.02 - 1.03.2020ARCOmadrid is the international meeting point for exchange between Europe and Latin America. The fair enjoys the distinction of having been the first fair in...Read more -
BRAFA 2020
26.01 - 2.02.2020The Brafa Art Fair, created in 1956, is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious art fairs, famous for the high quality fine art,...Read more