Small flowers, diverse leaves, and subtle petal colors, often overlooked by many, become a source of inspiration for visual artist Jorge Bayo Lon. His desire to connect the intimacy of everyday spaces with the scientific rigor of nature observation gives life to the exhibition BOTÁNICA doméstica, a curated selection of paintings, drawings, and illustrations spanning his artistic career.
According to exhibition curator Virginia Villalobos, the show is "the complicity of one who paints for the love of painting and finds in the contemplation of another living being a way to alleviate the ailments of urban life." She adds that it captures "the extraordinary in the everyday, absolute beauty," transforming "the common into unforgettable and the ephemeral into permanent."
BOTÁNICA doméstica reflects Jorge Bayo's conception of life and painting, understood as inseparable acts. With admirable rigor, tenacity, and infinite delicacy, the artist transfers to paper what surrounds him, capturing his interest through color and form.
Visits to the Royal Botanical Garden have provided a privileged territory for the artist. In his works, he often maintains the paper's pristine white or leaves much of the surface free, focusing attention on seemingly minimal elements that, thanks to his skill, acquire a unique presence.
Jorge Bayo has a particular fondness for working on paper, using pencils, markers, watercolors, or ink. Selecting the works for BOTÁNICA doméstica was "a particularly complex exercise, given his incessant capacity for creation," assures Virginia Villalobos.
The exhibition also features kakemonos, a personal appropriation of the Eastern term, which Bayo paints in oil on polyester paper. It shares with the traditional format the idea of a suspended, light, and temporary painting, reflecting his understanding of existence: "we are passing through. There is no need to force things to be different."
Jorge Bayo concludes that BOTÁNICA doméstica is "a deep diary in permanent conversation with the botany of a garden," a reflection on "the essence of life, the beauty of the everyday, and the need to stop and look" in the Royal Botanical Garden-CSIC.
Jorge Bayo Lon (Madrid) holds a degree in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid. His professional career spans over two decades, and he has been awarded the Landscape Chair scholarship from the UCM and the Artistic Creation Awards from the Community of Madrid. His work has been exhibited in institutions such as Galería Ansorena and MUSAC.
