Véronique Ellena

About Véronique Ellena

Véronique Ellena (FR, 1966) currently lives and works in Paris. Véronique Ellena holds a bachelor's degree in visual arts, and trained in photography at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre in Brussels, in the studio of Gilbert Fastenaekens.

In 2007, Véronique Ellena was a resident at the Fondation des Treilles. That same year, she won the Prix de Rome and became a resident at the Villa Médicis. She also took part in two other artist residencies: "Un artiste dans la ville" residency - in Clermont-Ferrand in 2010 and "Hors les murs" residency - Institut Français in Italy, 2012. In 2015, the artist won the Prix de l'Intelligence et de la main awarded by the Bettencourt Schuller Foundation, following the creation of the Millennium stained glass window in Strasbourg Cathedral. She was also awarded the FNAGP (Fondation nationale des Arts Graphiques Plastiques) prize in 2017.

Véronique Ellena's work can be found in a number of public collections (Centre Georges Pompidou, FRAC Ile-de-France) and private collections (Florence & Damien Bachelot Collection, Christian Lacroix Collection).

Photographic approach of Véronique Ellena

The photographic work of the artist revolves around a variety of themes.

First and foremost, Véronique Ellena is sensitive to the beauty of the world around us, and to the small, a priori mundane things that govern our daily lives. With this in mind, she produced several series: "Les supermarchés" (1992 - 1993), "Les Dimanches" (1993 - 1994) and "Les habitants de Bruxelles" (2000).

Later, Véronique Ellena turned her attention to nature and landscapes. This approach gave rise to a number of questions for the artist, notably about the link between the visible and the invisible, reality and fiction, and the place of man and the sacred. This research would be at the heart of several series spanning some fifteen years, mainly produced in France.

Finally, it is through the stained glass windows, created from 2014 onwards, that we can gain an overall view of the artist's work. They bring together a wide range of themes that have shaped the artistic career of Véronique Ellena.

Exhibitions

Véronique Ellena's work is regularly featured in group and solo exhibitions. In terms of solo shows, she has exhibited at Villa Medicis (Rome - 2008), Paris Photo at the Grand Palais (Paris - 2016), Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles for a retrospective at the Musée Réattu (2018), Le Hangar (Brussels - 2021) for an exhibition entitled "Regarde mon histoire", in which the artist presents the project "Vivre sa vie", and recently at Photodays 2023 at the Sorbonne Art Gallery (Paris). In 2024, the artist will exhibit at H2M (Bourg-en-Bresse, France).

Alongside her purely photographic creations, Véronique Ellena receives public commissions to create photographic stained-glass windows. The design work for these stained-glass windows is carried out in collaboration with a master glassmaker, particularly with regard to the technical aspects. These projects include the Millennium Stained Glass Window at Strasbourg Cathedral (2015) and the Clos vineyard stained glass window at the Musée Réattu (2018). Beyond her fascination for color and light, the artist wishes to highlight a double dimension present in this type of creation: the ability to amaze the public with simple things as well as the possibility of being able to talk about spirituality.

Art Book Publications by Véronique Ellena

Véronique Ellena's publications include two major books: "L'argent" (DIAPHANE Editions)  and "Véronique Ellena: Retrospective" (Silvana Editions), published in 2010 and 2018 respectively. In addition, a documentary film about the artist's stained glass window for the millennium of Strasbourg Cathedral was written and directed by Marion Wegrow (2015).