Ruben Rodrigo
Bio
Rubén Rodrigo (Salamanca, 1980) is a Spanish painter who currently lives and works in Madrid. He graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Salamanca in 2004 and was awarded a scholarship from the Antonio Gala Foundation in 2005–2006. Rodrigo has developed a body of work deeply committed to the exploration of color and pictorial materiality. His practice draws from the tradition of North American Color Field painting — particularly Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis — as well as from the aesthetics of Japanese sumi-e, translating these influences into a contemporary practice that combines gesture, transparency, and luminosity. In his canvases, color becomes a living substance, a vehicle for memory and spirituality, and the act of painting acquires a meditative dimension where chance and control coexist in balance.
His investigation into light and chromatic energy has led to notable exhibitions such as La Luz y la Furia at DA2 Domus Artium 2002 in Salamanca, as well as shows in galleries including Alzueta Gallery (Barcelona) and Galería Fernando Santos (Porto). In 2023, he received the A&G Art Prize, a recognition that strengthened his international projection. The work of Rubén Rodrigo, abstract in appearance yet filled with emotional and sensory resonance, offers an immersive experience in which color functions as an autonomous language and a space for contemplation, positioning him among the most distinctive voices in contemporary Spanish painting.
Statement
Rubén Rodrigo's work brings to the fore some of the practices developed by the New York school in the second half of the 20th century. The soak painting technique used by Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis is the starting point for Rodrigo's research, in which the behavior of paint on canvas takes on a random nature. Masses of color slide across the surface in a kind of action painting, and the layer-upon-layer technique is also reminiscent of the glazing used by 17th-century Baroque painters.
This peculiar combination of influences, together with the use of surrealist findings and certain concepts from Japanese Shintoism, gives rise to a work that combines controlled chance, mystery, and a certain tactile quality related to lightness.
In his canvases, Rodrigo explores the formal possibilities of color in practically monochromatic fields. "I want to achieve maximum purity through a unique staining process that the Japanese call Sumi-e, which consists of an ancient monochromatic technique that seeks to synthesize the regular forms of nature through a single brushstroke. I am interested in the pulse, tension, spirituality, and vitality of the pictorial space."
Rubén Rodrigo holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Salamanca, where his exhibition “La Luz y la furia” (Light and Fury) was held in 2019 at the DA2 Domus Artium Art Center, one of Spain's most prestigious contemporary art centers. His work is represented in some of the most important private collections internationally, such as the H.E.F. Collection and the Rucandio Collection, among others.
2.5 x 4m / 98.4 x 157 in
