Ivanov VCU Grad Photo Research: Artist Review 9: Tony Matelli

Significance:
As a continuation of the topic on the disturbing in art, Matelli is very straight forward in picking on fears universal for all people. The main topic of his work is loss: of life, possessions or balance. He materializes these fears in durable art materials - fiber glass, urethane foam, bronze and paint. The precise, permanent and realistic sculptures depict frozen in time ephemeral objects or setups, happenings or results of something that happened.
I may take ideas from his work as it goes beyond the unsettling. Or maybe not, sometimes he is trying too hard to be scandalous and that annoys me.
The lack of a well defined agenda in his work is a weakness too. Or maybe he has given up the very difficult and obscure task to make a difference in order to support himself as a studio artist. Tony Matelli exhibits worldwide.

Bio:
Born 1971 in Chicago, IL, lives and works in Brooklyn NY
Education:
1995 MFA Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan
1993 BFA Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Wisconsin
1991 Alliance of Independent Colleges of Art - Independent Study, NY

Quotes:

1) "...with Matelli’s art, its not enough to focus on just one work; you must employ a peripheral vision to see how he seizes on one oafish cliché after the next making them testify against their own crude sincerity, finally admitting that their one-dimensional values are in the end inconsequential. This is Matelli’s style of moralizing."
Roland Jones http://www.tonymatelli.com/Tony_Matelli/Ronald_Jones.html

2) " Lost, absurd and debased, Tony Matelli’s figures experience the complexities of life with ever-present possibility of both death and rejuvenation on the horizon. Sleepwalkers, lost boy scouts, rotting vegetables, sprouting weed, beer cans and card stacks signal the banal passing of time. As hyperrealist bronze sculptures, these scenarios instead are frozen in time, captured in visceral detail. Matelli’s often vulgar sense of humor rivals the delicacy of his tedious technical process."
Natalie Westbrook http://www.tonymatelli.com/Tony_Matelli/Natalie_Westbrook.html

Work: