Rafa Macarrón

Rafa Macarrón paints abstract figures in daily acts of tender comedy. A former physiotherapist, he uses his anatomical knowledge to create exaggerated body shapes. Their giant, cubist hands and feet disrupt perspective and float in unstructured space. Some paintings show stark singular portraits. Others show colourful crowded panoramas – with figures congregating at bus stops or beaches. Macarrón’s process is led by intuition and experimentation with a range of materials. Acrylic, gouache and oils are the main base. Pencils and markers define figures. Aerosol sprays, aluminium and PVC bring texture and dynamism. The artist also translates his biomorpic personalities into drawing and sculpture.

Macarrón is “very proud to be part of the Spanish painting tradition.” He’s inspired by artists who explore tensions between format, scale and colour. In particular, Joan Miro and the El Paso Madrid group. He also references the French painter Jean Dubuffet, New Figuration and Abstract Expressionism. Together, these rich legacies evolve further in Macarrón's work. Through the bright remix of materials and style, he refreshes and builds on the past. As the artist puts it himself: “these canvases are about rebirth, they speak of a new hope of life.”