20th-21st Century Spanish

Born in Santander, where his family were spending the summer holidays from their home in Madrid. Ramiro’s mother, who was well-conversant with theology and astrology and had a penchant for fantastic literature, nourished his imagination with references that would later find expression in his artistic work. His passion for art appeared at a very early age, with the work of Paul Klee (1879-1940) being particularly influential.

In 1949 he began studying Architecture, which he combined with drawing classes at the school run by the architect Enrique López-Izquierdo. He soon joined Madrid’s avant-garde circles, frequenting the Círculo de Bellas Artes and beginning to take part in several group exhibitions. In 1952 he dropped out of Architecture for good to devote himself full time to art.

Throughout his career he made frequent incursions into the decorative arts and advertising for various brands and, in the 1960s, he was the artistic director for a number of companies. A special mention is deserved for his collaboration with the textiles brand Gastón y Daniela which was known at the time for promoting up-and-coming young creatives and highly modern designs. Also worth underscoring is his mural works, including one, no longer existing, which he made for Cines Capitol in Bilbao, measuring 70 square metres.

His experimentation with a variety of movements (, , abstraction, Surrealism…) led to a highly personal style. The main subject matters of his paintings are dreams, fantasy, esotericism, astrology and metaphysics. Tapia views art as a means of escaping reality that allows him to build impossible worlds which he then destroys in powerful apocalyptic visions.

In the 1970s Tapia began to take an interest in symmetry, resulting in a body of work combining unusual architectures and vegetation. This proved to be one of the most important periods in his career and gave rise to the series Arquitecturas imposibles and Botánicas fantásticas. The two works in the BBVA Collection belong to the former, and introduce a subject matter and form of representation that he would continue in later phases.

Tapia’s work has been seen in many exhibitions, both in art galleries and institutions, including Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Madrid (1978); Biblioteca Nacional (1979); and the 1992 World Expo in Seville. In 2020, Domus Artium 2002 (DA2) in Salamanca—where he has spent much of his life—dedicated a retrospective to him.