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With a box of watercolors bought by his parents over 70 years ago—still visible today in the exhibition itself. That’s how the love story between Vicente Conejero Tomás and art began. The boy who wanted to be a painter eventually steered his professional life towards technology, research, and teaching, partly due to his family’s precarious financial situation (and fortunately viewing it through a scientific lens).

However, the scientific dedication of Conejero—now 83, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, former director of both the Department of Biotechnology at the UPV (which he co-founded and led for 18 years) and the Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Eduardo Primo Yúfera (UPV-CSIC), and a member of the first graduating class of the School of Agricultural Engineering and Environment at the UPV—never erased his artistic side.

Before us, “the result of that merciless hunt”

“I did, however,” Conejero recalls, “swap brushes, paints, canvases, and easels for markers, black and white, and whatever paper I had on hand… the margin or bottom of a brochure, a program—anything that would let me draw on it.”

And so it was that, between 1995 and 2015, he began “a true pursuit of family members, colleagues, and friends from the UPV, friends from Dénia… anyone who crossed my path could fall victim to my marker. Today, we stand before the result of that merciless hunt.”

“Vicente Conejero: Capturing Profiles,” on view until May 2

Amparo Carbonell, co-curator of the exhibition alongside María José Martínez de Pisón, highlights the skill of an artist whose work conveys more than it sets out to.

“With the precision of a scientist and the sensitivity of an artist,” she notes, “Conejero combines his innate curiosity with an agile and expressive line to capture not just facial features, but also the essence and humanity of his subjects. His drawings are not merely physical representations, but also deep reflections that reveal the emotions and stories that have shaped this university.”

To see them and revisit key decades in the life of the UPV, visitors can enjoy the exhibition “Vicente Conejero: Capturing Profiles”, on display at the Solidarity Hall of the Central Library of the UPV until Friday, May 2.

Don’t miss this unique exhibition where, as Carbonell puts it, “art, humanity, and academia intertwine,” allowing us “to discover in each portrait—and each curiosity—essential fragments of the UPV’s history.”

Carlos Ayats Pérez / UPV Communication Area

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