Portuguese artist Ricardo Romero (b. 1984) has rapidly become one of the most compelling voices in contemporary urban sculpture, shaping the visual language of Portugal’s cities with a practice that moves fluidly between monumental public works, site-responsive interventions, and his signature process, Romerography. His sculptures, distilled silhouettes poised between movement and stillness, reveal a rare combination of discipline, poetic restraint, and spatial intelligence.

Ricardo Romero in the midst of production. © Ricardo Romero

Across rooftops, coastal promenades, civic squares, and cultural institutions, Romero creates a dialogue between cities, memory, and the human impulse to form meaning through gesture. Whether depicting animals caught mid-stride, human figures walking toward the future, or symbolic archetypes rising from the landscape, his work demonstrates clarity of form, emotional precision, and a deep sensitivity to place.

Today, his sculptures have become integral features of several Portuguese cities, subtly shifting the perception of urban space through clarity, restraint, and poetic tension. Romero has developed a language that is both monumental and intimate, a body of work that is reshaping the visual identity of Portugal’s contemporary urban landscape.

The artist at work: Ricardo Romero. © Ricardo Romero

This overview traces Romero’s sculptural evolution from 2018 to 2025, offering a clear vision of one of Portugal’s most exciting sculptural voices of the new generation.

SCULPTURES (2018–2025)

 Kyno (Leiria) 2018

Romero’s earliest listed sculpture marks the beginning of his interest in animal form, movement, and urban presence. Playful in scale, Kyno introduces the themes that will later characterise his public work: gesture, alertness, and the emotional charge of stillness.

Kyno in Leiria by Ricardo Romero 2018. © Ricardo Romero

Olhar e Não Ver (Leiria) 2019

Installed atop a rooftop overlooking Leiria’s skyline, this matte-black cat became an early landmark in Romero’s practice. The work’s title, “To Look and Not See”, underscores its central idea: the sculpture disrupts everyday perception and remains one of the artist’s most recognised and much loved sculptures.

Olhar e Não Ver in Leiria by Ricardo Romero 2019. © Ricardo Romero

 Sopro (Marinha Grande) 2020

Sopro is a three-meter sculptural tribute by Ricardo Romero, created for the Festival Marinha Grande, BREATH: PUBLIC ART. Inspired by the plaster studies of Joaquim Correia, the work reinterprets traditional forms through digital scanning and 3D printing, bridging past craftsmanship with contemporary innovation. Honoring the region’s glassmakers, the sculpture captures the symbolic moment of breath, the origin of their craft, while a small squirrel perched on the figure’s shoulder adds a subtle nod to nature, a recurring theme in Romero’s practice.

Sopro in Marinha Grande by Ricardo Romero 2020. © Ricardo Romero

Phobos (Évora) 2020

Created for his exhibition ‘Like a Dog‘ in Évora, the city where Ricardo Romero was born in 1981, Phobos takes the form of an expressive canine figure. During the exhibition’s installation, the 2 metre sculpture was temporary placed in Praça do Giraldo, where its presence immediately captured public attention and sparked an unexpected dialogue with passersby. Drawing its title Phobos from Greek mythology, the work evokes themes of fear, tension, and psychological unease.

Phobos, in Évora by Ricardo Romero 2020. © Ricardo Romero

Futuro (Leiria) 2021

Standing at over six metres in height, Futuro depicts a woman and child walking side by side, a monumental gesture toward intergenerational continuity. The child carries a planted vessel, symbolising growth, renewal, and the responsibilities carried into the future. This work reinforces Romero’s ability to bring tenderness and humanity into monumental sculpture.

Futuro, in Leiria by Ricardo Romero 2020. © Ricardo Romero

O Gato e o Vento (Setúbal) 2021

A larger-scale cat installed along the rooftops of Casa do Turismo in Setúbal, this sculpture expands Romero’s exploration of the much loved cat in Leiria. Positioned against the Atlantic breeze, the work captures movement, light, and coastal atmosphere. It acts as a sculptural counterpoint to the Leiria rooftop cat, creating a dialogue between two cities.

O Gato e o Vento, in Setúbal by Ricardo Romero 2020. © Ricardo Romero

Caetana (Figueiró dos Vinhos) 2024

A contemporary reinterpretation of Simões de Almeida’s 1871 sculpture Orphan, Caetana transforms a gesture of supplication into one of offering. The figure presents a flower, representing hope and emotional restoration. The work combines digital modelling with traditional sculptural sensibility, bridging past and present.

Caetana, in Figueiró dos Vinhos by Ricardo Romero 2020. © Ricardo Romero

 Vamos?! (Setúbal) 2024

Installed in Praça do Brasil, Vamos?! (“Shall we go?!”) depicts a child playing with a train looping on an infinity-shaped track. The sculpture reflects themes of time, direction, movement, and imagination. Its playful surface conceals a deeper meditation on the choices that shape individual and collective paths.

Vamos?!, in Setúbal by Ricardo Romero 2020. © Ricardo Romero

 Emerge (Praia do Pedrógão) 2025

A monumental white figure of the Varina, the traditional Portuguese fish-seller, rises against the Atlantic horizon. Emerge is a tribute to coastal history and labour, honouring the resilience and dignity of the women who shaped the identity of Portugal’s fishing communities. The work blends landscape, heritage, and sculptural purity.

Emerge, in Praia do Pedrógão by Ricardo Romero 2020. © Ricardo Romero

Wilderness (Alcanena) 2025

One of Romero’s most ambitious installations to date, Wilderness presents three oversized animals, a fox, a genet, and a badger, positioned in the heart of Alcanena. Rendered in striking red, the sculptures confront the region’s industrial past and the ecological displacement of native wildlife. This work exemplifies Romero’s ability to merge environmental commentary with monumental form.

Wilderness, in Alcanena by Ricardo Romero 2020. © Ricardo Romero

Collectors’ Release

CAT#000 Ricardo Romero’s First Edition Sculpture

As Ricardo Romero’s public works continue to rise across Portugal’s cities and coastlines, we are honoured to announce a landmark moment in his practice. For the first time, Ricardo Romero has created a collectible sculpture edition, offering an intimate counterpart to the monumental works that have shaped his presence in the urban landscape.

Rooted in the feline forms first witnessed in Leiria and Setúbal, this new piece brings Romero’s sculptural language into the domestic sphere, a small, tactile work designed to be held, lived with, and experienced up close.

This inaugural edition, titled CAT#000, marks the beginning of a new chapter: a sculptural gesture distilled to its essence, scaled for the hand rather than the skyline.

Medium: Acrylic resin three-dimensional sculpture

Edition: 20 Black / 5 White

Size: 40 x 22 x 9 cm

Description: Signed and numbered by the artist. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.

Ricardo Romero – CAT#000 (Black). Photo Copyright © Ricardo Romero / GraffitiStreet

Released exclusively through GraffitiStreet on Thursday, 4 December 2025 at 3pm GMT, this inaugural edition is limited to just 20 Cats in black and 5 Cats in white. Each piece embodies the distilled elegance, sculptural clarity, and enigmatic presence that have come to define Romero’s practice.

Collectors wishing to secure priority access are invited to contact the gallery for early registration and acquisition details. We also encourage joining the gallery newsletter to receive pre-release privileges and advance notice of future editions.

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