Ronél de Jager’s (b. 1985, Johannesburg, RSA) practice focuses on oil painting, each artwork taking weeks to complete, as she meticulously builds up the canvas with delicate precision in each brushstroke. Thematically she uses floral arrangements as her point of departure, deconstructing the images digitally and transforming them onto canvas. Her work resonates with the Golden Age both technically and conceptually: the use of chiaroscuro and delicate brushwork used to interrogate notions of vanitas – decay over time, environmental concerns, and personal narratives as microcosms of broader social issues.
In her oeuvre transience is the constant and change is the leitmotif, both conceptually and formally. Her works demonstrate the continuous transformation to which every form is subjected, and reflect on the eternal processes of becoming and of passing away. In this, she resonates with philosopher and sociologist Georg Simmel: “By ‘nature’, we mean the endless connection of things, the uninterrupted production and negation of forms, the flowing unity of occurrence that is expressed in the continuity of temporal and spatial existence. Matter, every kind of material, is constantly in a process of transformation.”
Ronél de Jager – Curriculum Vitae
Select Solo Exhibitions
2022 STILL HERE, Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2017 BROEIGROND: Fertile Ground for Golden Regrets, KKNK, Oudsthoorn, RSA
2015 A.M. (After Midnight), Lizamore & Associates Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 AN INTERLUDE (Featured Multimedia Installation) – RMB Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg, RSA
2014 A PRELUDE (Multimedia Installation) – ROOM Gallery & Projects, Johannesburg, RSA
Select Group Exhibitions
2026 gender/genre, Kumalo | Turpin, Johannesburg, RSA
2024 Refuse the given world – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2024 Inter-Opsia – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2021 Winter Group Show – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2021 In Conversation with Colour Symphony – Jan Rupert Museum, Graaff Reinet, RSA
2019 LOST & FOUND – Bag Factory Artist’s Studios, Johannesburg, RSA
2019 Paint it Forward – ABSA Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
Select Fairs
Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL: 2026
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, RSA: 2026 / 2025 / 2024 / 2022
FNB Art Joburg, Johannesburg, RSA: 2025 / 2024 / 2023
RMB Latitudes Art Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2026 / 2025 / 2024 / 2023
Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2021 / 2014
Select Awards and Residencies
Bag Factory Artists’ Studios Residency, Johannesburg, RSA: 2020 / 2019
KANNA Award Winner, KKNK National Arts Festival: 2017