Tony Matelli’s three throw blankets for the Normann x Brask Art Collection express the feelings of an artist in distress. The woolen throws are woven enlargements of personal fax messages sent to some of his art dealers in 2003 and made into a series of prints for a solo show in Stockholm in 2008. Although written in a polite manner, the messages convey a strong sense of frustration and desperation: of unreserved artist panic.
In a mix of machine writing, drawings and handwritten notes, the faxes revolve around artistic doldrums, money troubles, and the distorted reality of worrying about unpaid bills whilst being confronted with the excessive wealth of art buyers who shop with extravagant ease. All satirically served up on a backdrop of cheery pastels.Matelli perpetuates this humorous approach by turning these frantic messages of the struggling artist into a comforting and cozy object. Every little detail, from the ink residues of the printer to the redactions and acts of censorship, are reproduced in the felting, allowing you to comfortably wrap yourself up in a marriage of soft wool and artist’s despair.
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