Among the 31 winners are Javier Bardem, Icíar Bollaín, Paloma San Basilio, Amaral, Ana Locking, Ian Gibson and Antón Reixa
The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, approved this Tuesday the awarding of the Gold Medals of Merit in Fine Arts corresponding to the year 2021 to 31 personalities and institutions of culture, among which stands out Murcian photojournalist Chema Conesa.
This award distinguishes individuals and entities that have excelled in the field of artistic and cultural creation or have provided notable services in the promotion, development or dissemination of art and culture or in the conservation of artistic heritage.
Chema Conesa (Murcia, 1952) is a photographer and journalist. His work as a reporter and graphic editor shapes his work, his portraits being the best known aspect. He studied Art History at the Complutense University, but when he began his Information Sciences degree in Madrid, he studied the specialties of Image and Journalism. At the same time, he started working in the sports section of ‘El País’. After a period of two years in which he worked as head of photography for the weekly ‘El Globo’, he returned to work as a graphic editor at ‘El País Semanal’ until 1995.
Throughout her career, Chema Conesa has addressed different themes, but the portrait is the theme that she has shown the most. The Murcian has photographed personalities from different fields such as politics and culture. Among them are Felipe González, José María Aznar, Alfonso Guerra, Miquel Barceló, Rafael Alberti, Miguel Delibes, José Saramago, Camilo José Cela, Ana María Matute, Francisco Umbral, Francis Bacon, Pedro Almodóvar, Penélope Cruz, Paco Rabal, Carmen Maura, Camarón, Paco de Lucía, Antonio López, Eduardo Chillida or Ferran Adrià.
Chema Conesa has made both individual and collective exhibitions and with various themes. Thus, in 2005 he participated in a project to photograph Valencia. In 2014 he held an exhibition entitled ‘Paper Portraits’ that collected part of the portraits he has been taking, and has traveled to various cities after appearing at PhotoEspaña. His work has been recognized with awards such as the 2010 Bartolomé Ros Award from PhotoEspaña.
31 laureates
The dancer Maribel Gallardo, the poet Julia Uceda Valiente, the Black Week of Gijón, the film director Agustí Villaronga, the Max Aub Foundation, the cartoonist Paco Roca, have also been distinguished with the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts 2021. the actor Javier Bardem, the Martín Chirino Art and Thought Foundation, the Amaral music group, the businessman Daniel Martínez de Obregón, Jaume Plensa, the photographer Colita, Ana Locking, the Cerezales Antonino y Cinia Foundation, Genis Matabosch, the illustrator and writer Carme Solé, the entity Drac Mágic, the singer-songwriter and poet Pablo Guerrero, the Board of Qualification, Valuation and Export of Historical Heritage Assets of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the singer Mayte Martín, Icíar Bollaín, the composer Teresa Catalán Sánchez, the Hispanicist Ian Gibson, Javier Gurruchaga, the soprano Saioa Hernández, the writer Juan Muñoz Martín, the video game developers Paco Portalo and Paco Suárez, Anton Reixa and P Aloma Saint Basil. Likewise, and posthumously, Ramón Casas Vallès has been awarded.
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