Contemporary Art Matters is pleased to present our Holiday Pop-Up! This exhibition features work by Erika b Hess, Heather Jones, Robert Harms, Dion Johnson, Kurt Lightner, Laura Sanders, Billy Sullivan and Nikos Fyodor Rutkowski. Video tours and in-person scheduled tours are available.

Nikos Fyodor Rutkowski has channeled the stress of isolation in the times of covid into a series of still life paintings. He uses a technique of collaging paper clothing patterns as a formal structure in the acrylic paintings. The resulting cubist-inspired works remind us of the importance of gathering together over a meal and the fleeting nature of time.

Rutkowski is based in Columbus and was a founding member of the Franklinton Arts District and the original organizer of Urban Scrawl. Rutkowski is an alumnus of the Columbus College of Art and Design.

Kurt Lightner explores the American farming experience in these new paintings from his ‘Fruitpickers’ series. The trees are bursting with color and practically devouring the laborers picking the fruit, as seen here through the old-fashion orchard ladders.

Though Lightner lives and works in New York, he mines his family history of farming in Ohio for his subject matter, as well as exploring the subject of painting. He received his BA from Columbus College of Art and Design, and his MFA from the School of Visual Arts, NY. Lightner’s paintings and sculptures have been included in exhibitions at PS1 MOMA, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Queens Museum, among others

Lisa McLymont is a multi media artist who focuses on drawing and painting. She explores portraiture through capturing expression and raw emotions painted onto birch. Through the subtile wood grain the subjects gaze directly back, leaving viewers captivated.

Born in Manhattan, McLymont is a graduate of Ohio State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Design. She has served as adjunct faculty member at Columbus College of Art and Design and Ohio Dominican University. She has a studio at Blockfort cooperative in Columbus, and is an administrator of the Art and Artists Of Network (AAAO), Creative Arts of Women (CAW!), and the Creative Women of Color (CWoC). McLymont’s work has been included in numerous exhibits in the Central Ohio area.

Billy Sullivan has been making paintings and drawings of his friends and his surroundings since the 1970’s. The bohemian glamour of his still lifes and the casual intimacy of his portraits distinguishes him as a New York artist. In all of the work, we are comfortable in the company of the artist. This piece is from his series on the Big Apple Circus, capturing the vitality of the show with his bright colors and gestural style.

Born in New York, NY, Billy Sullivan attended the High School of Art and Design and received a BFA at the School of Visual Arts. He divides his time between studios in New York and East Hampton. He has exhibited internationally and is included in the prestigious collections of institutions and museums including the Detroit Institute of Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, The General Electric Company, Dow Jones Company and The Museum of Modern Art.