Everything is romantic

A duo exhibition by Jané Celliers and Neil Badenhorst

This exhibition pays homage to the environmental themes of Romanticism, albeit through a queer lens. Queer people are alienated from many ‘traditional’ aspects of cultural practice; including rites of passage which traditionally center identities that are hetero and cisnormative. The artists reflect on the alternative ritual processes and spaces available for them to make sense of the self and interpersonal interactions. The natural, as well as the domestic world, is presented as a ritual space for personal (queer) experience. Both artists’ work depicts figures (alone or paired) in dreamy, semi-surreal landscapes that are romantic reimaginings of real world places and experiences.

In Celliers’ body of work she reflects on her experience as a queer woman, drawing from spaces where she feels most at home—both the surreal and from real spaces she inhabits daily. The works narrate a journey through personal environments, spanning from the cultivated familiarity of her grandmother’s garden, the ‘oasis’ of her current living room, and to the untamed nature of a farm, where she spent much of her childhood. Each piece serves as a glimpse into the spaces she seeks to inhabit for solace and acceptance, reflecting on memory and aspirations.

Recurring motifs like floral patterns and animals, particularly crocodiles, add layers of meaning to her work. The floral motifs evoke a meditative path for the viewer’s eye, creating a sense of grounding amidst ambiguity, while animal imagery reflects her connection to the natural world, seeking to anchor herself. Additionally, the tension created by placing indoor furniture in outdoor settings hints at a boundaryless comfort zone where both the domestic and wild elements of her identity can coexist.

Ultimately, this series invites the viewer into spaces of tenderness and resilience—places where she continually carves out for herself as a queer person, where she finds refuge. The works honour ‘home’ as an ever-evolving sanctuary, capable of holding both memory and self-discovery within its walls.

Badenhorst’s works, similarly, grapple with queerness through the imagined spatial. His works explore a variety of alternative spaces for ‘queer rites of passage’, including the natural world, the home, one’s neighbourhood, digital spaces (specifically video games), and nightclubs. The sacred and the profane are regarded as, not opposites, but ever present peers who collaborate on the storytelling within his work. These narratives centre around notions such as the domestic and natural worlds are ‘shrines’, or alternative holy spaces in which experiences such as romantic feelings, personal struggles, complicated relationships with family members, and religious trauma, can be articulated and made sense of. The body of work is eclectic, and obsessive markmaking is drawn alongside very rough drawing, or torn edges, and motifs include butterflies, snakes with strange humanlike eyes, all sorts of flowers (both real and imagined) and other strange characters who all vary in the level of detail in which they have been completed in.

Neil Badenhorst

Neil Badenhorst (b. 1995) is a Johannesburg-based illustrator, artist, designer, educator and researcher. Badenhorst completed his BA and BA Honours degrees in Visual Communication Design (majoring in Illustration) at Open Window in 2017 and 2018 respectively. He completed his MA (Design) at the University of Johannesburg, where he is currently studying towards a PhD. His doctoral study is concerned with collaborative worldbuilding as a queer rite of passage. As a designer and Illustrator, Badenhorst has freelanced since 2018; his clients include Ladybird UK, Cadbury SA, FlySAFair, GALA Archive and more. He has been recognised by institutions such as the Loeries, Between10&5, and MTN for his creative work. As an artist, Badenhorst has exhibited at various galleries across South Africa including Gallery 2, Bag Factory Artist’s Studios, TMRW, No End Contemporary Art Space, NOW Gallery and more. His solo exhibition for his MA, between worlds, opened at Gallery 2 in March 2021. Badenhorst has presented at several local and international conferences. He lectures full-time in the Graphic Design Department at the University of Johannesburg. 

Badenhorst’s creative process relies heavily on play and intuition. His practice includes illustration (both digital and traditional media), collage, painting, and mixed-media installation. His work reflects on themes relating to queer identity and experience, imaginary worlds, storytelling, and rites of passage. 

Please contact Glynis – (+27 83 457 4851) or Kyra – info@gallery2.co.za for any further information.