Lot 40 | Tony Matelli | Untitled

MATELLI, TONY
1971 Chicago

Title: Untitled.
Date: 2011.
Technique: Bronze, polychromed.
Measurement: 42 x 35 x 25cm.


The work is to be installed in a corner that brightens the back plate. The two pins are to be fixed in the wall. This is another version of the work that was made for the façade of the Museum Ludwig.

We thank the artist's studio for the kind support.

Provenance:
- Kasper König Collection, Berlin

Exhibitions:
- Gallery Thomas Fischer, Berlin 2018
- Potsdamer Straße 103, Berlin 2023

Surreal hyperrealism
The American artist Tony Matelli, known for his hyperrealistic sculptures, was born in Chicago in 1971. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in 1993, he continued his education at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in 1995. His oeuvre includes depictions of people, animals and objects in an extremely detailed and lifelike manner. He plays with the viewer's perception in an ironic way and utilises elements of surrealism. Matelli's works are not only represented in public and private collections worldwide, but have also been exhibited in renowned institutions such as the New Museum in New York, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Bergen Kunsthall in Norway.

The famous series of 'Weed' sculptures
The present work is one of the so-called 'Weed' sculptures, a series of unique objects made of hand-painted bronze that has been running since 1995. Each work depicts the 'weed' indicated in the title in great detail and true to scale. A small, delicate branch with ten green leaves grows out of a gap between the wall and the floor. At the outer edge, the leaves have already withered and are partially perforated. Matelli's typically hyper-realistic plant embodies both life and decay. The illusion of nature in an unexpected place - in the interior - is intended to irritate in a humorous way.

Matelli's unique technical virtuosity
The artist shows weeds, which are usually plucked out because they are undesirable, but nevertheless repeatedly make their way through the earth, not even stopping at asphalt. The irrepressible power of nature, as well as symbolising art, demonstratively fights its way through the exhibition floor. This work is characterised by Matelli's unique technical virtuosity, which in its banality makes the viewer question the boundaries between reality and art. Matelli has the following to say about the 'Weeds' series: 'I don't think people initially engage with them as sculpture, I think people initially engage with them as real weeds, which allows them to function in the mind of the viewer as real interlopers, strange and out of place.'