Matthew Kolodziej lives and works in Ohio. Kolodziej earned a BA in economics from the University of Chicago in 1988 and an MFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 1993.
 
Interested in what people leave behind, Kolodziej worked on archaeological digs while in college. These formative experiences strengthened an interest in material culture. Kolodziej’s work in the film and video industry and theater production fostered his interest in movement, perception, and epic space.  The transitory quality of space and perception is a central theme in his paintings.

Kolodziej has been exhibiting his work since the mid 1980s. His work has been shown in galleries and museums around the country and abroad. Recent solo exhibitions include work at the Carl Solway Gallery and The Painting Center in New York City.  His work was represented in group exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Rockford Art Museum, the Akron Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland.

A Fulbright Scholar in 1995, Kolodziej traveled extensively in England.  He is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner grant, three Ohio Arts Council grants and a Rhode Island Council for the Arts grant.