Exhibited: Hong Kong International Art Fair, 2012. Provenance: Leo Koenig Gallery, New York. Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.

In a conversation between the artist and the art historian Marie Nipper, Tony Matelli's works are described as 'inverted sculptural still lifes' and the artist elaborates on the relation between the perfect illusionistic form and the subject matter in his works: “I don’t really see any distinction. The way my work is rendered can't be separated from the idea. I have always thought that my approach to object making adds to its clarity and precision, rather than obfuscating the subject matter. I want to engage the viewer and present my subject as clearly as possible. I’ve always thought that for an artwork to be successful, it needs the viewer to become invested in it. Ideas need to have seductive power in order to be absorbed and considered. This is the ultimate lesson of religious art, and even in Hollywood— the viewer needs to be seduced. So when I’m making something, one of my first objectives is how to make the viewer care. How do I bring them into the universe of the work? Sometimes the motivations behind my work are pretty simple and direct, so the high production value of my work is one way of convincing the viewer of the works’ seriousness, my seriousness. Once viewers accept this they are more likely to consider the subject in a way that they might not otherwise. They become absorbed in the work” (Quoted from: "Precision of Practice - Tony Matelli interviewed by Marie Nipper, www.tonymatelli.com).