Rafa Macarrón was born with the birth name Rafael Macarrón Jaqueti. Born in Madrid in 1981, Macarrón comes from a family of many generations of artists. Both of his parents were architects and art collectors who have taught Macarrón to appreciate art and look at artworks with a critical eye. Upon high school graduation, he became a professional cyclist. In terms of character expression, Macarrón has greatly benefited from his experience as a physiotherapist and knowledge about anatomy, human physiology and sports. In 2006, the 25-year-old Macarrón decided to become a full-time artist.

In response to an interview question about his art inspirations, Macarrón answered, “I have had a very direct relationship with the Spanish painting, I have practically grown up in the Prado Museum, the best art gallery in the world. I am very proud to be part of Spanish painting tradition. Goya’s black paintings have always moved me. Goya is the best painter in the world; and of course Las Meninas by Velázquez, which I consider the best work. But it all started with Picasso. I fell in love with his work in Paris, in his museum. I was four years old and, from that precise moment, I haven't stopped drawing.”

His parents and siblings’ profession as architects has led him to pay attention to image structure. He tests out characters through deformation, creating characters with different souls in an expressionist way. Looking magical and surreal in their own worlds, these lonely characters are exactly what make up Macarrón’s Universe.

Macarrón extracts information from everyday life and puts them into his paintings. Under his willpower, the paintings are a compilation of his autobiography that captures all aspects of life–including self experiences, childhood memories, and daily observations. With unique character styles and an impressive atmosphere, Macarrón’s contemporary group portraits are reminiscent of the works by classic art masters Jheronimus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel.


The artist created a variety of characters that constantly evolved over the years, finally reaching their unique styles today. Their regeneration demonstrates the hope for new life through elongated or enlarged heads and slim limbs. In particular, Macarrón’s characters wear brightly colored nail polish regardless of their genders. The strange postures are truly fascinating. The artist recalls being inspired by a French woman he saw in Montparnasse Paris when he was five years old. The vivid impression has led him to paint all characters with vibrantly colored nail polish. The depiction of hands is undoubtedly the most eye-catching element in Macarrón’s paintings. The artist believes that humans express emotions through their eyes and hands. Hence the hands can be expressively drawn to attract viewers’ attention.

Looking at Macarrón’s 2019 large oil painting Diferente Mundo as an example, the artist used paper collage, acrylic paint, and other materials to create a square-shaped green space. The richly layered background colors and lightly coated paints symbolized an ethereal atmosphere that combined with well-textured group portraits to form a profoundly magical universe. The artist playfully experimented with the spatial structure and illusion. Some of the artist’s multidimensional spaces resembled fictional rooms, while others look like swimming pools, beaches, unknown mountains, and planets with fantastical elements such as clouds, rainwater, towers, long stairs, and aircrafts. The interactions and gestures between unique characters and animals, and their puzzling eyes expressing tenderness, naivety, and desires are examples of Macarrón’s depiction of smooth, magical, yet in-depth paintings from his personal experiences. As opposed to the barren pessimism of existentialism, these thought-provoking and self-reflective contemporary fable paintings are truly precious in our era.

Macarrón has won several prizes including the BMW Painting Award in 2010. Macarrón held his first museum exhibition at the Contemporary Art Center of Malga in March 2021. His works are collected by several foundations and museums.