Rafa Macarron

RAFA MACARRÓN (Madrid, 1981).
"Veca", 2015.
Paper mache and paint. Unique piece.
Signed, dated and titled on the base.
Provenance: Aurora Vigil Gallery.
Presents a small crack in the tail.
Measurements: 75 x 100 x 24 cm.

In this sculpture Macarrón refers in a personal way to his dog, capturing its essence from its naive idiosyncrasy. In this synthetic image of stylized forms and intense color, the artist resorts to lines inspired in a harmonic way in nature, thus extolling forms with which he creates a new concept that starts from an imaginary world of vitality and joy. The representation of his dog as the protagonist of his work is not isolated, since in the exhibition "Quince", held at the Cac in Malaga in 2021, there were several sculptures starring a canine. In addition, a large bronze sculpture entitled "Perro I" can be found on Estepona's seafront promenade. However, in this particular case the sculpture stands out from the others due to the papier-mâché technique and its intense fuchsia pink coloring, which provides great expressiveness.

Rafa Macarrón is one of the young Spanish artists with the greatest international projection at present. His painting brings into play wide and neutral spaces, with intense and vivid colors, through which unstable characters with fragile limbs and huge heads walk. In this way, he creates scenes that do not dispense with the figurative world, but that immerse the viewer in a dreamlike environment, full of lyricism. The artist recognizes that he is influenced by artists such as Dubuffet, Fraile, Matta or Quirós, as well as by the comics and Spanish painting of the 50s and 60s. His exhibition career began in 2006, with a solo show at the Sala Príncipe Sport in Madrid, entitled Trabubus. Since then he has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in national and international centers. Since 2008 he has also participated, with notable success, in numerous international art fairs, such as Art Madrid, Art Valencia, Scope Basel, the Young Art Taipei, ARCO Madrid, Art Miami - Aqua, Art Lima, Context New York, Berliner Liste, and others... He has received several awards, such as the BMW Painting Prize in 2010 or the Best Artist Arco Award in 2013. His work is preserved in important collections and museums, such as the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in New York, the BMW Foundation in Spain, the Vivanco Foundation in La Rioja, or the Pilar Citoler collection.