Romulo Royo

Romulo Royo is an international artist dedicated to contemporary painting, born in Zaragoza, Spain. At the age of eighteen, he began his professional career in the art world through illustration, creating covers for numerous magazines and novels for international publishers such as Eura (Italy), Rad Moskbay (Russia), and Bastei (Germany). However, in 2001, he decided to fully devote himself to painting, which he had also begun around that time. He has held solo exhibitions thanks to the Meta Project, which toured Valencia, A Coruña (Spain), Verona, Milan (Italy), Frankfurt (Germany), and Tokyo (Japan). His work has also been exhibited in institutions such as the Pablo Serrano Museum, the Provincial Museum of Huesca, and the Teruel Museum. Additionally, his works have been published in various art magazines, including Trebede, Bonart, Exit, Lapiz, and Mu. American Express commissioned him to create a series of limited-edition lithographs titled Perpetual Present. Since 2004, he has exhibited in major private galleries, foundations, museums, and international art fairs such as Art Forum Berlin, FIAC, Los Angeles Art Show, ARCO Madrid, Art Miami, CIGE Beijing (China), ART International Istanbul, and ART Wynwood, among others. In 2006, he traveled to Moscow with Luis Royo to work on the grand dome of Medvedev, located in a castle in the icy Russian taiga. The book Dome documents the seven-month creative process before the project began, as well as the physical and mental effort required to complete the four-month oil fresco painting on scaffolding. During this period, he created several series, including Siamese and Metal-Skin, composed of paintings and sculptures exhibited in prestigious spaces such as the National Museum Metelkova of Slovenia, Can Framis Museum of the Vila Casas Foundation in Barcelona, the X Biennial of the Martínez Guerricabeitia Foundation at the Valencia City Museum, the Fran Daurel Foundation in Madrid, the Maeztu Museum in Estella, and the IV Moscow Biennial of Contemporary Art. Starting in 2009, his Blackened Times series debuted at the XXV Alexandria Biennale at the National Museum of Alexandria before traveling to different countries. The Alcort Foundation commissioned him to create a 1,500 kg aluminum sculpture for its collection, which is exhibited in the foundation’s gardens. The piece, Siamese, is included in Romulo Royo’s book Videncia, Velamiento y Ceguera, with texts and exhibition curation by Fernando Castro Flórez. That same year, he collaborated with Luis Royo on large-scale paintings for the book Dead Moon, which has an Oriental theme and was published worldwide alongside an I-Ching deck featuring their artwork and other multimedia products. This collaboration, along with their previous project in Moscow, led to a large-scale multimedia project called Malefic Time. This initiative includes multiple internationally published books featuring paintings and illustrations, novels, sculptures produced by Yamato (USA) and Nocturna (Spain), manga, and merchandise such as calendars (published by Pyramid in the UK and Sellers Publishing in the USA), a tarot deck by Fournier, role-playing games, music videos in collaboration with Avalanch, and more. His work The Day Will Come was published in Spectrum XVIII: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art. He exhibited at the Santa Mónica Center alongside a special edition of the book On-OA and in galleries such as Miguel Marcos Gallery (Spain), MDA Gallery (Sweden), Fnac (which toured various cities), Schwalbe 54 Gallery (Frankfurt), and numerous art fairs, including ARCO Madrid, where he has exhibited regularly since 2012. Between 2012 and 2016, the Malefic Time trilogy (Apocalypse, 110 Katanas, and Akelarre) was published internationally in more than eight languages, with editions by Cross Cult (Germany), Bragelonne (France), Norma Editorial (Spanish and English), Rizzoli Lizard (Italy), and Azbuka (Russia). Between 2014 and 2020, he created series such as Goddesses of Nibiru and Flowers and Thorns, which were exhibited in galleries such as Kavachnina Contemporary Gallery (Miami), Miguel Marcos Gallery (Spain), and Huberty & Breyne Gallery (Brussels). His works were also auctioned for the first time at prestigious auction houses such as Christie’s (Paris and Brussels), Ketterer Kunst (Munich), Galartis (Switzerland), and an auction organized by The Womanity Foundation, conducted by the renowned Simon de Pury. Prestigious galleries such as Gagosian, Miguel Marcos, and Aquavella participated in this event. During this period and in the following years, his work continued to be showcased at major fairs, including Art Miami, CIGE Beijing (China), ART International Istanbul, ARCO Madrid, and fantasy-focused conventions such as Fantasy Basel and New York Comic-Con. In addition to exhibiting in private galleries and art fairs, in 2023, he presented Art Generations, curated by Mauro Bruni at the Palazzo Ducale during the Lucca Comics & Games fair—the world's most prestigious fantasy exhibition space. The following year, his work was displayed at the European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM) in the exhibition The Dream of Fantasy. His previous series inspired by Oriental aesthetics, such as Goddesses of Nibiru, which embraced a Zen style, and Your Sexy Beast, which incorporated cyberpunk influences, led to a curated exhibition by Jaime Romero Leo at the Hispanic-Japanese Cultural Center of Salamanca.