Manolo Román (born Manuel Gómez Román, Granada, 1967) is a Spanish contemporary artist whose work explores abstraction, light, colour, and materiality. His artistic talent emerged early in childhood and was shaped by an intense study of the great masters, particularly Caravaggio, Modigliani, El Greco, Michelangelo, and Raphael, from whom he developed a deep sensitivity to light, shadow, and subjective expression.
By his twenties, Román moved decisively toward abstraction. He lived and worked in Madrid, where he deepened his artistic education through continuous study of museum collections and modern art theory. In 1994, after returning to Granada, he undertook formal studies in artistic design, colour, and lace at the School of Arts in Granada, while experimenting with synthetic cubism and sculpture.
His artistic development was further shaped by extensive travel and study across Europe, engaging closely with post-war and avant-garde movements such as El Paso, Dau al Set, German Expressionism, and De Stijl. Influences include Antoni Tàpies, Pierre Soulages, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Beuys, Richter, and Kiefer, informing his use of texture, material experimentation, and black as a luminous, reflective colour.
Román’s work is also informed by philosophy, theology, and esoteric thought, with a practice rooted in inner perception, memory, and spiritual inquiry. Rejecting purely market-driven aesthetics, he understands art as a philosophy of life, an exploration of internal landscapes and emotional atmospheres.
In the 21st century, his work expanded internationally, including periods in New York, where he produced significant series in Soho and New Haven. His paintings are held in private collections across Europe and continue to evolve as reflections of lived experience, artistic freedom, and the search for meaning beyond form.
Román summarises his vision succinctly:
“The more you are able to look into the past, the more you will see in the future.”