The online art magazine The Collector has published two interviews with Romulo Royo and Luis Royo. The intention of these interviews is to highlight the current of Fantasy Art in contemporary art.
Both of them were interviewed by Greg Beyer, assistant editor specialized in African history and he is a prolific author over more than 100 articles like “8 Famous Contemporary Fantasy Artists to Know”, “What is the Difference Between Fantasy Art and Fantastic Art”, “What is Contemporary Fantasy Art?” or “Women in Fantasy Art: More Than a Product of the Male Gaze?”. Graduate in History and Linguistics and a Diploma in Journalism from the University of Cape Town, he has shown in several previous articles his interest in Fantasy Art, this artistic trend that is increasingly being highlighted by academics despite being praised by the public since the 70s and 80s. The interviews, moderated by Anna Sexton, Senior Editor at The Collector, have been accompanied by an article in each case by way of a brief biography.
Romulo Royo, in his interview with Anna and Greg, talks about his past, present and future projects, as well as his inspirations and experiences as an interdisciplinary artist.
Romulo makes an interesting reflection on how growing up in an environment dedicated to art, full of brushes and papers, influenced him to dedicate himself to this profession, always being aware of the positive and negative parts.
He also reviews his career from his first illustration and fantasy commissions for the Spanish publishing house Norma and for international publications. He comments on his membership in “Grupo 3”, the group of artists of which he was a part when he was very young. And he tells us how he made his first artist dossier and, with the enthusiasm and innocence of a beginning artist, he went to Barcelona in search of a gallery in which to exhibit his paintings until the opportunity for his first exhibition arrived.
From then on, his work began to be exhibited in international galleries such as Kavachnina Contemporary Gallery in Miami, Galeria Miguel Marcos, Champaka Gallery or Huberty & Breyne in Brussels, Foundations, Museums and International Fairs, such as Art Forum Berlin, FIAC, Los Angeles Art Show, ARCO Madrid, Art Miami, GIGE Beijing China, ART International Instanbul or ART Wynwood, becoming one of the most important names in the world of contemporary figurative and fantastic art.
Of course, Romulo highlights the projects he has shared, and those he is still working on today, with Luis Royo. At the time of the interview, the project of the Art Generations exhibition at the Galleria Ammanati of the Palazzo Ducale di Lucca was still being developed during the great international fair Lucca Comics & Games, which ended up becoming this past November one of the exhibitions with the largest volume of work and most visited in the history of the fair.
Romulo talks about his fluid style and how it seeks to evoke the idea of contemplating mysterious and enigmatic places. His works often feature beautiful women, especially in portrait form, surrounded by a dystopian aesthetic, creating a fascinating juxtaposition of life and death, beauty and destruction, and hope paralleled with despair.
You can see the interview in the online magazine The Collector and on their YouTube channel.