Jonathan Ryan (b. 1989, Buffalo, NY; lives in Los Angeles, CA) received his BFA from Louisiana State University and MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Ryan has exhibited across the US and Europe, including solo shows at Megan Mulrooney (Los Angeles, CA), the Landing (Los Angeles, CA) and Hesse Flatow (New York, NY). He has also been in group exhibitions at Monti8 (Latina, Italy), Andrea Festa Fine Art (Rome, Italy), Gerhard Hofland (Amsterdam), Hesse Flatow East (Amagansett, NY), la BEAST gallery (Los Angeles, CA), Ekru Project (Kansas City, MO), Good Mother (Los Angeles, CA), Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Los Angeles, CA), The Brand Library (Glendale, CA), Field Projects (New York, NY), and the Woodmere Art Museum (Philadelphia, PA). His work was recently included in "Altered States in the Acid West" at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. Ryan has received fellowships and awards from Woodmere Museum of Art, Tyler School of Art, Vermont Studio Center, and LSU School of Art.
Jonathan Ryan: The Hour of the Pearl will be on view from September 12 - October 24, 2026 at Megan Mulrooney Gallery, Los Angeles.
Could you start by telling us a little about your background and how you first found your way into painting?
I've been drawing and painting since middle school, starting out by copying cartoon characters and artworks from books. I grew up in a low-income household in rural Louisiana, without access to museums or anyone who could introduce me to contemporary art. But my parents and teachers noticed and supported my interest, and I went on to study painting in college. I was always drawn to art, but it wasn't until my senior year of undergrad that I truly identified as a painter and committed to it as a career - before that, I was weighing art-adjacent paths like museum studies or animation. I continued on to graduate school for painting, but the real turning point came after graduating in 2014, when I moved to Los Angeles and rented my first real studio. I'd identified as a painter in grad school, but this was the moment I felt truly independent - no institution behind me, just me figuring out how to build a life and career as an artist.
