City Medal for the Great Sculptor of Malaga's Eternal Icons

Who doesn't have a photo at home of themselves riding the little donkey in the Park? Or hasn't come across a postcard of 'El Cenachero', the undisputed image that one has visited Málaga? The eternal icons of the capital not only have names, but they share the same creator, the sculptor Jaime Fernández Pimentel (Málaga, 1933), who at 92 years old received this Friday with emotion, passion, and humor what is probably his most deserved title: the Medal of the City and the title of Favorite Son as an indispensable creator of the great popular symbols of the monumental heritage and our collective memory.

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"This is one of the greatest honors in life because there is no greater privilege than being recognized by the land that saw you born," said Jaime Pimentel himself after receiving the distinction of honorary citizen from the hands of the mayor, Paco de la Torre. In his speech, the honoree traveled to the "bustling" Carretería street, the school where he learned that "joy, art, and the popular" are part of the "Malaga soul." "It was there, unknowingly, where I began to sculpt my view of the world; there I began to understand the value of beauty, work, and identity," recounted the artist who humorously remembered that when he returned home after his Nordic journey, the neighbors called him "Viking."

A curious nickname for the man who has best captured the Malaga soul in sculpture, as highlighted by the different municipal spokespersons who spoke at the event. And which Pimentel himself confirmed by confessing that he has "carried the name of Málaga with pride" around the world, trying to make his work a "source and not a barrier." The artist returned to that boy from Carretería to say goodbye and acknowledge that the city has "inspired" him since he was young and that the embrace of the City Medal is not an end. "I will continue to return art, love, and commitment," closed an extremely moved Jaime amid the complicit applause of all those present.

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"It was there, unknowingly, where I began to sculpt my view of the world; there I began to understand the value of beauty, work, and identity"

Jaime Pimentel

Artist

As was clear in this Friday's event, there is no artist more identified with the city than Pimentel himself. His 'Cenachero' alone already deserved this title of favorite son. A sculpture that started as a very different commission to the imposing statue of more than two meters that presides over the Plaza de la Marina on a high pedestal. "The mayor, García Grana, wanted me to make a little figure that symbolized Málaga to give to the authorities. He liked 'El Cenachero' a lot, that's why he asked me to make it for outdoors," said Pimentel to SUR from his home-museum-workshop in Almayate. The definitive version that made history was presented in 1964 and its author does not forget the unanimous applause. "I will never make a sculpture that has that importance, that inauguration made me swear that I was giving it to Málaga," he assured.

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That piece turned Pimentel into the reference sculptor and creator of unmistakable icons. There is also his 'Platero' (1968), the little donkey of the children's area of the Park where several generations of Malaga residents have ridden and been photographed. So much so that it has worn down and even cracked that solid bronze inspired by the poetic work of Juan Ramón Jiménez, even having to be removed in 2016 for restoration and reinstalled to continue mounting new riders today.

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Prior to these two emblems, the sculptor recognized with the city's highest distinction also immortalized another genuine Malaga profession, 'El Biznaguero' (1963), who, unlike the fishmongers, still roam the streets of Málaga with their aromatic stalks. This monument, also in bronze, is currently located in the Pedro Luis Alonso Gardens, from where it continues to look up at the sky with its hand on its face, proclaiming its ephemeral biznagas.

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Fernández Pimentel is also the author of those seagulls that have been trying to take flight from the deck of the Eduardo Ocón for decades, although his ability to create symbolic works is not limited to Málaga. Benalmádena also turned to the sculptor in 1968 to commission a representative statue that would preside over the fountain in Plaza de España and represent the prosperous moment of the town in the midst of the tourist 'boom'. The artist thought of a girl and took as a model a young woman from Almayate with her hair tied back and her arms extended with a water shell as an allegory of a city in growth and open to its many visitors. The following year, the now mythical Author's Film Week was created and the bronze of the Girl from Benalmádena, in a reduced version, became the trophy that began to travel around the world with the international awards of the festival.

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The great creator of Malaga icons had, paradoxically, a Nordic training, starting in the mid-50s in Norway, where he was influenced by the sculptor Anne Grimdalen, then moving on to Finland, Sweden, and North America. The commission of 'El Cenachero' and its success allowed him to return permanently to Málaga. His symbolic collection of urban art for the city is not only displayed on our streets but also in the United States, specifically in the city of Mobile (Alabama), where versions of the emblematic 'The Fishmonger' and 'Platero' are displayed, symbolizing the twinning of both capitals.

His emblematic sculptures 'El Cenachero' and 'Platero' are not only displayed in Málaga but also in the North American city of Mobile

Always active, Jaime Pimentel, who switched from stone to bronze because it allowed him to give "movement" to his sculptures, is also the author of other relevant works in the province, such as 'El Jabegote' from Torre del Mar and the slender 'Noctiluca' from Rincón de la Victoria, towns that have also recognized the master as an adopted son. One of his latest works is located at the entrance to Macharaviaya, where the figure of the politician and military man Bernardo de Gálvez (2014) emerges. A conqueror, like Pimentel himself.

As the mayor of Málaga, Paco de la Torre, recalled at the Medal award ceremony, the Academy of Fine Arts of San Telmo, an institution to which the sculptor himself belongs, was the promoter of this request that was officially presented to the City Council in 2023, which definitively approved its grant on June 19 in the plenary commission of Social Rights and Culture. The file, which was instructed by councilwoman Mariana Pineda, recognizes the merits and artistic work of Pimentel, taking precisely as a reference the icon of 'El Cenachero', the most representative figure of the city since its installation six decades ago. "His works have merged with the Malaga landscape," summarized Pineda.