Johann Badenhorst

J. Badenhorst is a multidisciplinary South African artist whose practice centers around expansive, emotive landscapes while also exploring the power and presence of contemporary portraiture. With a deep reverence for the natural world and the emotional resonance it holds, Badenhorst’s landscape works feature sweeping skies, silhouetted treelines, and birds in flight — often painted onto multiple layers of glass and set within deep box frames. This unique technique creates an immersive three-dimensional effect that draws the viewer into a moment of stillness, transition, or quiet awe.

Badenhorst’s landscapes capture the delicate tension between light and dark, movement and silence, evoking scenes at dusk, before storms, or in the hush of early morning. The layered glass surfaces invite an intimate connection with space and time — not just observed, but felt.

While landscapes form the foundation of Badenhorst’s visual language, their contemporary portraiture provides a bold counterpoint. These works are emotionally charged and often textured with metallic elements and gestural strokes. Combining abstraction and realism, the portraits explore themes of identity, strength, and transformation with striking clarity.

At the heart of Ba...

Degree in Fine art from the prestigious Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Solo Exhibition "ESCAPE" at the Grahamstown
National Arts Festival, Green Gallery

Solo Exhibition "ESCAPE" at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Cape Town

Sponsored Solo Exhibition "(un)familiar spaces" at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, Green Gallery

Sponsored Solo Exhibition "(on)duidelik" at ABSA KKNK, Oudtshoorn

Solo Exhibition "(on)duidelik" at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival Albany Museum, Square Gallery

Solo Exhibition "Existential" at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival Albany Museum, Square Gallery

Solo Exhibition "Immerse" at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival Albany Museum, Square Gallery

Exhibited with the Department of Arts and Culture at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival

Exhibited with the Department of Arts and Culture, work exhibited in Germany