The art world’s interest in drawings came just at the right moment for Rob Matthews, an artist whose drawings merge humor and faith in puzzling scenarios often staged in his own home. Rob who grew up in the South, talked to us about self-combustion and animal sculptures on building facades–some of the things that have set his imagination afire. Human folly, Hitchcock movies and childhood adventures inflect his work, which has earned widespread attention–he’ll be in a show at the National Portrait Gallery in November; he is represented by Gallery Joe in Philadelphia and by Daniel Cooney Fine Art in New York.
This episode is edited by Peter Crimmins. The music is by Eric Biondo. Thanks to the Knight Foundation for helping us get the ball rolling on this project. Thanks also to J-Lab‘s Enterprise Reporting Fund and William Penn Foundation for additional support and to our partner WHYY NewsWorks for their ongoing support. You can listen to Artblog Radio on Apple and Spotify.