Tony Matelli (born 1971) is an American sculptor, who has gained recognition for his hyper-realistic artworks, which utilize various techniques and materials.

[4] Incorporating figurative, botanical, and abstract forms in his sculpture, Tony Matelli creates uncanny objects that are both unsettling and comical.

Other works rely on unusual juxtapositions, such as his weeds series in which plants sprout from the space between gallery walls and floors.

By defying gravity and manipulating optics, Matelli offers viewers a renewed perspective on familiar objects and appearances, transforming reality into something novel.

Each of Matelli’s artworks carries a provocative element, serving as a protest against established norms and conventions.

Across his oeuvre, and particularly in his mirror paintings, Matelli discards traditional genre categories in favor of experiential concerns.

“Genres are at the service of ideas, not the other way around.” Described as anti-monuments,[5] his sculptures redefine the tradition of American hyperrealism, exploring themes of loneliness, vulnerability, resilience, and resistance against adverse circumstances.

[6] Some students reaction to the work which was first created for display at the institute of higher learning in time with his solo exhibition at Wellesley's Davis Museum, titled "New Gravity" was similar to that of some people's to Anthony Gormley's figure placed near a ledge on the Empire State Building being called in to emergency services as a jumper;[7] they thought it was a stumbling invasive drunk or otherwise a perpetrator.

[8] A petition was then started to demand removal of the work and, as reported by the New York Times, garnered over five hundred signatures, with the organizers stating that it had become “a source of apprehension, fear, and triggering thoughts regarding sexual assault for some members of our campus community.” Matelli responded stating.."If you have bad feelings toward this and it’s triggering you, you need to seek sympathy, you need to seek help....”.

[13] During the spring and summer of 2016 the sculpture was exhibited along New York City's Highline Park with continued debate[14] and the great interest of onlookers who group around it sometimes in crowds.

[15] 2023 Sleepwalker, Frieze Sculpture 2023, London, UK2023 Timelines, Maruani Mercier Gallery, Belgium (cat.

Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey2018 Real Estate Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY2018 I Hope All Is Well.... 500 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA2017 Past-Life.

Marlborough Chelsea, Broome St, New York, New York2014 Tony Matelli, Olaf Bruening, John Miller.

)2013 Stephane Simoens Contemporary, Knokke, Belgium2013 White Flag Projects, Saint Louis, Missouri  (cat.