Ouka Leele

Bárbara Allende Gil de Biedma, known artistically as Ouka Leele, was a Spanish artist (Madrid, Spain, 1957–Madrid, Spain, 2022), linked to the Movida madrileña and to the renewal of Spanish photography from the late 1970s onward. Her practice included photography, painting, drawing, poetry, performance, and audiovisual projects.

Her work is especially known for black-and-white photographs colored by hand, in which she combines staging, visual imagination, pictorial references, and an expressive use of color. Through portraits, self-portraits, and images with a strong symbolic charge, Ouka Leele built a personal universe between the everyday, the theatrical, and the poetic.

Her work is part of collections such as the Museo Reina Sofía, Museo del Prado, Fundació Suñol, the BBVA Collection, and the Banco de España Collection. She presented exhibitions in institutions such as the Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Museo del Traje, Sala Alcalá 31, and Real Sociedad Fotográfica. Her awards include the National Photography Prize in 2005, the Silver Medal of the Community of Madrid in 2012, and the Madrid Medal of Honour in 2022.