Miquel Barceló Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts 2003

The Jury for the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts 2003, convened in Oviedo, comprising Fernando Argenta, Emilio Casares, Alfonso Cortina, Jorge Fernández Bustillo, Álvaro Fernández-Villaverde y de Silva, José Luis Garci, Guillermo García-Alcalde, Jordi García Candau, Rosina Gómez-Baeza, Manuel Gómez de Pablos, Manuel Martín Ferrand, Beatriz Pecker, Benigno Pendás García, Juan Ramón Pérez las Clotas, Ana Rodríguez Navarro, Rodrigo Uría Meruéndano, Amelia Valcárcel, José Manuel Fernández-Velasco, Miguel Zugaza Miranda, chaired by José Lladó y Fernández-Urrutia and with D. José Antonio Caicoya Cores acting as secretary, have agreed by majority vote to bestow the 2003 Prince of Asturias Award for Art on Miquel Barceló, born in Felanitx, Majorca in 1957. The jury consider him, young as he is, to be one of the major figures of contemporary European art. Ever since his revelation in the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1981, and his confirmation in the Kassel Documenta VII in 1982, this great creator has linked the best of Spanish tradition; inspired by Nature, his life is wholly dedicated to his work, whether it be painting or sculpture and ceramics. Barceló reflects the proximity of the reality of life through a Mediterranean prism.

Oviedo, 12th June 2003