The Artwork
Desolate, gloomy and threatening. This is how the landscape, a swirling field of flowers, looks in the monumental work Guernica de la Ecología by artist and eco-activist Claudy Jongstra.
With the artwork Guernica de la Ecología (2021), Claudy Jongstra makes a fist against a careless world that treats the earth with no love. It is a warning against impending climate change and a plea for more color in the landscape, for biodiversity, sustainable art, dignified craftsmanship and restoration of healthy agriculture in an inclusive working environment.
The title of her work refers to the iconic Guernica painted by Pablo Picasso in 1937 as an accusation against the violence during the Spanish civil war.
The works share the same dimensions: (360X 790 cm) and both lack any color; the artists translated their indictment into menacing, angry-colored shades of black, white and sepia-grey.
![PHOTO-2022-02-17-17-06-24[5].JPG](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/654a2e2cb94f9b02bf0f344c/3e99f263-5a64-448e-a151-a9eb52862ef1/PHOTO-2022-02-17-17-06-24%5B5%5D.JPG)
The Artist
Claudy Jongstra is known worldwide for her monumental artworks and architectural installations, whose organic surfaces and nuanced tones reflect her masterful innovations in the ancient technique of making wool felt.
In 2001, Jongstra established her studio in the rural North of The Netherlands, where she began a sweeping ecological experiment in the local landscape. Maintaining a flock of rare, indigenous Drenthe Heath sheep (the oldest breed in Northern Europe) and cultivating a specialized dyers' botanical collection garden, Jongstra creates a completely sustainable chain culminating in her artworks.
As Jongstra’s artistic practice expands, so too does the impact on her region. Collaborating with local farms, schools, and social programs, and drawing on a deep respect for the interwoven narratives of people, land, and tacit knowledge, Jongstra actively reimagines and revitalizes the local landscape from monocultural production toward a more diverse, inclusive, and ecologically-just model.
Jongstra’s oeuvre, often installed in large public spaces, is included in many international museums as well as private and corporate collections.
The Foundation
Iona Foundation is an international foundation for project funding, inspired by art & anthroposophy
Positioned as a foundation for social renewal, Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture and the centering of art and culture within positive change, the Iona Foundation ‘s general anthroposophical approach and main goals run parallel to those embedded within Claudy Jongstra’s visual manifesto; more biodiversity, craftsmanship and inclusiveness.
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Andrea Davina
CONNECTOR
Guernica de la Ecología -
Robert Viëtor
DIRECTOR
Iona Foundation