Tony Matelli (b. 1971, Chicago, IL) incorporates figurative, botanical, and abstract forms in his sculptures to create uncanny objects that are just as unsettling as they are comical. Cast in bronze, his artworks feature subjects such as ropes frozen in mid-air, aimless sleepwalkers, and disjointed self portraits. Other works, such as his weed series, rely on unusual juxtapositions between site and subject matter.

Across his oeuvre, Matelli discards traditional genre categories in favor of experiential concerns. Often described as anti-monuments, his sculptures redefine the tradition of American hyperrealism, exploring themes of loneliness, vulnerability, and resistance. Matelli received his BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in 1993 and his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1995. He lives and works in New York City.