Día y Noche - Ritmos del Alma

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In the Real Jardín Botánico (RJB) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid, where science, history, and nature have coexisted for 270 years, Villa del Arte Galleries presents an interdisciplinary exhibition that brings together art, textile design, and audiovisual creation in an intimate dialogue with the landscape.

Plants, like all life on earth, are affected and influenced by the rhythm of day and night and the cycle of the seasons. In a world that values efficiency and economic gain, Claudy Jongstra and Marcos Luengo, approach their work with a deep respect for the time, knowledge, and intuition it takes to follow the cadence of the natural world.

From the lightest and brightest yellows, greens, and pinks to the deepest, darkest blues and blacks, Jongstra celebrates the limitless spectrum of dyes distilled from plants, many of which can be found in Madrid's historic botanical garden. But more than a celebration of colour, Jongstra's artworks address urgent cultural and ecological themes like biodiversity loss, revitalizing rural communities, and preserving natural heritage.

Director of the RJB-CSIC, María-Paz Martín, highlights four distinctive features that connect Claudy Jongstra's artwork to the Royal Botanical Gardens - Her raw materials, organic wool and plant-based dyes cultivated in biodynamic systems; her message, raising awareness about climate change, sustainability, and biodiversity loss; the integration of plant-based color that blends seamlessly into the landscape; and the participatory nature of her work, as it seeks to involve all of society in conservation, sustainable consumption, and environmental education.

In this context, designer Marcos Luengo presents new creations made with fabrics from the LOADS collection—the world's first Demeter-certified biodynamic textile company, founded by Claudy and Jesk Jongstra—, transforming these sustainable materials into pieces that blur the boundaries between fashion, sculpture, and conceptual art.

Committed to using high-quality natural and sustainable materials, Madrid-based Luengo and his team craft each design by hand, combining ancestral techniques with extensive research into artisanal processes layered with cultural and artistic richness.

During the exhibition opening, Iván Puñal presented an audiovisual installation, whose live sound and visual compositions accompanied a short presentation of Marcos Luengo's designs, performed by the theater company BESTIARIO. This performance transformed the exhibition space into an immersive environment, where music, movement, texture, and nature intertwined in a multisensory experience.

The exhibition also features new and archival works by Claudy Jongstra, including her 'Nine' and 'Cosmic Cry' diptych artworks created for her 2020 exhibition curated by Suzanne Oxenaar for Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, NL.