Rafael Romero Masiá (Santiago de Compostela, 1953) is a Spanish contemporary artist with a solid and consistent career that places him as a prominent figure within the current art scene, both nationally and in his native Galicia. His multidisciplinary approach and ongoing creative renewal link him to both emerging art practices and the legacy of European pictorial tradition.
He holds a degree in Fine Arts from the Faculty of Santa Isabel de Hungría in Seville. He later broadened his education with landscape studies in Segovia under Professor Sánchez Corralero, and in Italy at the “Pietro Vannucci” Academy of Fine Arts in Perugia, where he specialized in painting and printmaking. Since 1982, he has worked as a tenured professor of Artistic Drawing at the School of Arts in Santiago de Compostela, sharing his knowledge with new generations of artists.
Romero Masiá is a Galician artist whose work stands out for its versatility and conceptual depth. While his main focus is on contemporary drawing and painting, he has extended his artistic language through the exploration of mixed media techniques and alternative supports, such as methacrylate, foam board, newspaper, wood, or worn fabrics. Both his materials and style vary depending on the nature of each piece: he uses oil, acrylics, raw pigments, waxes, water-soluble pencils, or adhesives, applying them with brushes, spatulas, sandpaper, or cutters—tools chosen based on the intended visual and expressive outcome.
With formal freedom as one of his trademarks, he moves confidently between figuration, abstraction, surrealism, and even hyperrealism. His creative process is always rooted in a sincere and thoughtful impulse. As he describes it, "I see painting as a game,” emphasizing the importance of experimentation, controlled chance, and enjoyment in artistic creation.
Far from bold or strident color palettes, Romero Masiá favors muted and intermediate tones—ochres, greys, earth tones—that reinforce the intimate and tactile atmosphere of his unique works. In his figurative series, he reveals himself as an exceptional draftsman, while in his abstract pieces, his focus shifts to textures, formal tension, balance, and structure.
Over the course of his career, he has held more than 35 solo exhibitions and participated in 57 group shows in Spain and France. He has received multiple painting awards, and his original artworks are part of public and private art collections at both national and international levels. His pieces can be found in museums, cultural institutions, and in the hands of contemporary art collectors around the world.
His artistic vision—deeply honest and constantly evolving—resonates with audiences who value authenticity, experimentation, and technical excellence in contemporary art.
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