Tony Matelli

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If you're anywhere near the Marlborough Chelsea Gallery, stop by before June 20th. Tony Matelli's "Garden" is on display and it includes several eyebrow raising sculptures. The centerpiece(s) are in the back room and, you might not be able to stay very long. They are a pair of painted cast silicone human figures: a man and a woman, on their heads. The figures are SO REAL that you're sure they're going to move their eyes, or flip onto their feet and ask you why you're looking at their naked bodies. They're so real that you can see the lines where their socks certainly were, just moments before you entered the room. The gallery press release suggests that their being upside down is reminiscent of the distress of a flag flown upside down; there is certainly distress in the room. There's also the question of how and why we've become so uncomfortable dealing with personal space, and bodies, and rules. Both the man and the woman are safely average. Nothing worth gawking at--neither would make a head turn on the street, with clothes. Yet there's something about looking at these pieces--these people--that makes you feel like you're invading: like you've walked in on something you shouldn't have.