Ella McVeigh’s paintings and drawings are webbed with art history, the role of nature in art-making and the possibilities and meanings of painting today. Starting primarily from found imagery of the natural world, McVeigh explores painting as a mental performance of visual decision-making. Whereby these images from her personal archive, ranging from studio shots of flower arrangements to encyclopedias on minerals and geology, are the trigger of an array of mental connections to other images and experiences.
McVeigh’s purely abstract work is a persisting interrogation of line, colour and form through paintings and drawings that capture in great detail the complexities of looking at images, while also eluding any efforts to be read as stories. She sees her way of painting as a problem-solving process, creating harmony out of chaos while combining natural and artificial structures.
Ella McVeigh (b. 1992 in London, UK) graduated in 2020 with an MA in Painting from The Royal College Of Art. Recent exhibitions include Art Brussels, Newchild Gallery, Brussels (2023); Art Antwerp, Newchild Gallery, Antwerp (2022); ARTBO, Bogota, Colombia (2022); Each Glance Branching, Newchild, Antwerp (2021, solo); Seven Sisters, Chadwell Award, London (2021, solo); Wild Blue Yonder, Newchild Gallery, Antwerp (2021); and Tomorrow: London, White Cube, London (2020). McVeigh is a recipient of the Chadwell Award (2020). Her work is part of the University of the Arts London Art Collection. She lives and works in London.
SELECTED SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 / (Forthcoming) Newchild Gallery, Antwerp
2023 / Art Brussels, Newchild Gallery, Brussels
2022 / Art Antwerp, Newchild Gallery, Antwerp
2022 / ARTBO 2022, Newchild Gallery, Bogotá
2021 / Seven Sisters, Chadwell Award, London
2020 / Tomorrow: London, White Cube, London (online)
2020 / 50/50, Fold Gallery, London
2020 / Josh Lilley- Beacon (online)
2020 / Final Not Over, Unit 1 Gallery, London
2019 / WIP, Show Royal College of Art, London
AWARDS
2020 / Winner of Chadwell Award