Ouka Leele

OUKA LEELE; BÁRBARA ALLENDE GIL DE BIEDMA (Madrid, 1957- 2022).
"Photograph Poster for MEYE MAIER", 1984.
Digital print on paper. Copy 19/40.
Signed and dated on the photo by hand. Justified by hand.
Measurements: 40 x 50 cm; 53 x 63 cm (frame).
Multidisciplinary artist of self-taught formation, Ouka Leele was one of the protagonists of the Movida madrileña of the early eighties. Her artistic name has its origin in a work of the painter El Hortelano, a map of stars invented entirely by him, in which a star called Ouka Leele appeared. Reinforced in this decision by her first gallery owner, Albert Guspi, she exhibited since then her work under this pseudonym, from which she removed an E, signing as OUKA LELE until 1999 when she returned to the original name Ouka Leele. The artist OUKA LEELE understands photography as visual poetry, a way of speaking without using words 1 976. She began her training in Photocentro, advised by a colleague from the school of painting, and years later in the 80's she went to New York where she continued her artistic training. Her career is highly recognized and applauded as she has received numerous awards including the Culture Award of the Community of Madrid in 2004 and in 2005 the National Photography Award, which led her to return to photography.
Throughout her career she has held exhibitions in cities such as Paris, London, Tokyo, New York, São Paulo, Tel Aviv, Shanghai, Beijing, Rome, Buenos Aires and Cologne, and in 2005 she was awarded the National Photography Prize. She is represented in the MNCARS, the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid, the Fondation Cartier in Paris, the Andalusian Center of Photography, the La Caixa Foundation and the Cervantes Institute in Lisbon, among other important public and private collections.