About Jonathan
Born and raised on the picturesque Ynys Môn in North Wales, Jonathan Retallick’s (b.1996) current work focuses on the powerful interplay between human emotion and landscape. His oil paintings are characterised by a unique aesthetic that blends hyperrealism with an abstract format, resulting in a mesmerising visual experience for the viewer.
Light is an essential thread that runs through the artist’s exploration, as he expertly captures the subtle nuances of light and shadow in his paintings. His commitment to mastering this element is evident in the intricate details and stunningly realistic depictions of his subjects.
Having recognised the importance of being in Wales and having quick access to nature, Retallick chose to study at the Aberystwyth School of Art. He would often go out sketching during storms in order to absorb the energy and incredible power of the sea. Today, he is back on Ynys Môn, where he continues to draw inspiration from the natural world to create art that reflects its beauty and complexity.
Since graduating from Aberystwyth, Retallick has exhibited extensively throughout Wales and increasingly in England. His work has garnered recognition from esteemed institutions, such as the Royal Academy and the National Library of Wales. In 2021, the artist was selected as a Young Welsh Artist in the YWA Exhibition, cementing his status as a rising talent in the art world.
Jonathan has been represented by Ffin y Parc Gallery since 2023. Following a successful debut show at the gallery, he will continue to exhibit with them regularly with the next large exhibition planned for November 2025 as well as showing work in their Summer and Winter mixed shows.
Awards
Tony Goble Prize 2023 Winner
CASW Purchase Prize 2023 Winner
STORIEL Selector’s Prize 2022 Winner
MoMA Summer Show 2022, Highly Commended
Wales Contemporary 2022, Short-listed
Contemporary British Painting Prize 2023, Long-listed
Collections
Contemporary Art Society of Wales – Artwork location:
Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw, Llanbedrog
National Library of Wales Aberystwyth
Margaret Watts Hughes Foundation
The work is a potent blend of hyperrealism and abstraction. With vivid saturated colours, flowing lines, deep shadows, unidentifiable sources of light and the deliberate absence of context or sense of scale, he creates visions that are ambiguous. Images might have their genesis in the vastness of empty skies or in moments of enclosure and intimacy. Subatomic, intracellular or cosmic, they become transmissions from putative alien worlds or secret inner worlds. Open to simultaneous, contradictory currents of interpretation.
The technique here is rigorous and time-consuming. What seems almost instantaneous is the result of a great deal of patience, of blending and layering and polishing. The results are a meditation on stasis and chaos, pleasure and anxiety, presence and absence.
– Roland Powell, Ffin y Parc Gallery
‘I am interested in creating an image that appears to have created itself. An organic composition suggesting another plausible existence that lives just as much in the imagination as it does our own terrestrial realm.’
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Ffin y Parc Gallery Major Solo Show 20th March – 11th April 2026
jonathanretallick.art 