Jonathan Ralston
Chicago, Illinois
Jonathan Ralston artwork currently in stable representation at 20 North Gallery
For purchase inquiries, please contact 20 North Gallery:
419-241-2400 or info@20northgallery.com
Artist Biography
A native of Toledo, Jonathan Ralston attended Maumee Valley Country Day School. He received his B.A. from Wheaton College (Norton, Massachusetts) in 1992 and has worked as a professional artist since then. Additionally, for 15 years he served as gallery manager for commercial galleries in Naples (Florida) and Martha’s Vineyard (Massachusetts).
Since 2007, Ralston’s paintings have been included in numerous group exhibitions at prestigious commercial galleries including North Water Gallery, Gardner Colby Gallery, Susan Calloway Fine Art (Washington, D.C.) and Eisenhauer Gallery (Edgartown, Massachusetts), as well as at The Baker Museum of Art (Naples, Florida). In 2018, he participated in the international art competition ArtPrize, held annually in Grand Rapids, Michigan, across multiple venues including the Grand Rapids Art Museum and The Gerald Ford Presidential Museum. Additionally, his work has been included in the National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society’s (NOAPS) 2018 Spring International On-Line Exhibition as well as the NOAPS Holiday Small Works exhibit in 2017.
Ralston is represented at North Water Gallery (Edgartown, Massachusetts), Gardner Colby Gallery (Naples, Florida) and 20 North Gallery (Toledo, Ohio). His work is included in multiple corporate collections and published in 100 Boston Painters (Chawky Frenn, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2012).
He has enjoyed numerous solo exhibitions at North Water Gallery (Edgartown, Massachusetts) in addition to the solo exhibits, Structures and Spaces at Old Town Triangle Association (Chicago, Illinois) in 2017 and Shadows and Enlightenment at 20 North Gallery in 2021. In 2019, he was honored by his alma mater with a solo exhibit at the Wolfe Gallery, Maumee Valley Country Day School (Toledo, Ohio).
Artist Statement: The Caravaggio Series
The architect Bernard Maybeck is quoted as saying “Architecture is the handwriting of Man.” What do the buildings that we choose to erect and inhabit say about us, both as individuals and as a society? I have been exploring these questions for close to 30 years. Through my own connection and reaction to architecture, I would like to think I am speaking to a collective connection and reaction to these spaces.
The visual aspects of architecture: the intersection of geometry, light, and color, are of endless fascination to me. The longer I paint, the more I realize that the repetition of the visual elements (columns, stair treads, stones, arches, etc.) also hold a strong visual appeal to me.
I have always admired and been fascinated by the work of Rembrandt—his rich colors and his handling of paint. More recently, I have also thought about Caravaggio’s work. It has taken me time to find the way to explore his dramatic lighting in my own paintings. The Caravaggio Series, begun recently and exhibited for the first time at 20 North Gallery in Jonathan Ralston: Shadows and Enlightenment, are the first fruits of that labor and, I think, a successful integration of his dramatic lighting and my subject matter. Some of these new paintings also reflect a loosening of brushwork, a thicker use of painting, and a greater willingness to let the texture of the paint define the shapes.
I have included some older work in the Jonathan Ralston: Shadows and Enlightenment exhibit which should illuminate the evolution of my work and tease what the future may hold.
Previous 20 North Gallery exhibitions including artwork by Jonathan Ralston
- Jonathan Ralston: Shadows and Enlightenment: July 23 – September 25, 2021. Click to view exhibit page.