Rob Matthews

Rob Matthews includes themes of mortality, frailty, and political and social unrest in his works. In addition to graphite drawings, he incorporates painting and collage in inks and gouache. He is influenced by Cubism and Renaissance portraiture, as can be seen in his superimposition of fragmented bodies on abstracted, saturated surfaces of color. When talking about the meaning of his work, Matthews says, "the simplest explanation that I give about my work is that I only make art about things that I consider more important than art."

Matthews has had solo exhibitions at the David Lusk Gallery in Memphis, TN, Atlanta Contemporary in Atlanta, GA, Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, Gallery Joe in Philadelphia, PA, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, Daniel Cooney Fine Art in New York City, Twist Gallery in Nashville, TN, Gallery Joe in Philadelphia, PA, Daniel Cooney Fine Arts in New York City amongst many others. He is a two-time winner of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship award and won the Pew Fellowship in the Arts award in 2009.