Ella & Pitr met to form a duo, then a couple - or a couple, then a duo - in 2010. She was studying theatre at the time but was already practising visual arts through drawing, painting and collage, while he was a fervent graffiti artist, and the chemistry between them was immediate. From then on, Ella and Pitr expressed themselves artistically with one voice, deliberately blurring the lines so that it was impossible to tell who was responsible for what in their work.
This union of their unique worlds into a shared universe, which seems to have always existed, so spontaneous does it appear, is undoubtedly the source of the poetic nature of their creations. A poetic but caustic nature, sometimes scathing, carefully avoiding any sentimentality.
Although they initially favoured the street as a place of expression, Ella & Pitr very quickly developed a common practice in the studio. In 2011, Parisian gallery owner Franck Le Feuvre approached them and together they began a collaboration that continues to this day with the Jonathan Roze gallery (formerly associated with the Le Feuvre & Roze gallery).
In 2012, Ella & Pitr held their first exhibition at Galerie Le Feuvre. The Saint-Étienne duo then shook up the Faubourg Saint-Honoré with "Celui qui volait les étoiles pour les mettre dans sa soupe" (The one who stole stars to put in his soup). The couple's world surprises with its poetry, humour and feigned candour, delighting with its freshness as much as it challenges. The naivety is only superficial, always feigned, and the underlying message can be harsh.
The artists paint their imagination, but beyond that, it is about them and therefore about us. How can we not project ourselves into their works? With their rebellious grannies, their war-mongering kids and their toothless characters, Ella & Pitr touch us by surprise. As the exhibitions progress, we notice that through their humorous, grotesque, ironic, absurd or dreamlike scenes, the artists are working on fragility. A pile of plates, a hammer, a rock, another rock that a little boy is trying to hold back, a family swim in dark water where huge koi carp swim. The breach, the crack, David versus Goliath, Hamlet, us, them, like ants...
Faced with their works, we go from smiling to reflection, passing through astonishment and tenderness. Often in that order. They don't know it yet, but those who allow themselves to be drawn into the couple's universe will leave with them for a long time...
In fourteen years, Ella & Pitr have come a long way. They have travelled countless kilometres, crossing the globe from one end to the other to paint and exhibit their work, from Beijing to Chicago via Stavanger, London, Rome, Santiago de Chile, Mumbai and many other cities. They brought to life a family of giants only visible from the sky, painted the largest murals in Europe in 2015 in Norway and in 2019 in Paris, and finally decided to work on their destruction. The race for gigantism eventually wore them out. With size taking precedence over substance, surface over scenes, they chose to return to the fundamentals of urban art, namely its ephemeral nature, by literally blowing up their creations. Physically, through the use of materials such as stone and concrete, and conceptually, by causing the material to give way - or giving the impression that it is giving way - under the vibrant emotion felt by their characters.
That's also what Ella & Pitr are all about: not dwelling on formulas that work. Always moving forward so as not to stagnate, to avoid boredom and keep others entertained, and positioning themselves where they are least expected. This mindset applies as much to their street art as it does to their studio work. Since they met, their practice has undergone many transformations, with changes in media and subjects. They paint on canvas and paper, of course, but also on concrete, wood, printers' trays, with scenes hidden behind cathedral glass, and characters drawn communicating with (or via) objects: paintbrushes, pebbles, ceramics, broken plates... All homemade and imbued with their characteristic poetry.
Ella & Pitr continue to surprise us with the unveiling at the end of 2018 of the first paintings in their series 'Plis et replis de soi' (Folds and Creases of the Self). More abstract, this new body of work does not break with their figurative works, but rather extends them. The piles of fabric shed light on the clothes, their textures and detailed patterns, with which they have always dressed their characters.
Les Plis et replis immerses us in painting, of course, but it is not merely a technical demonstration. Beyond their aesthetic quality, they prompt us to question what lies beneath the surface of things, of ourselves, of the 'self'. They are an illustration of the visible and the invisible. What we show and what we are deep down; what we think we are. Beyond the seductive aspect of the work, Les Plis et replis invites us to introspection.
This introspection, this dive into oneself, resurfaces in the Rieurs series. They too express a certain duality. These men, women and children laughing heartily, often showing all their teeth, catch our eye, of course, but above all because of the powerful emotion they convey. This genuine laughter passes from their faces to ours when we discover them. Their enormous proportions also play a role: enclosed within the rectangle of the canvas, these explosions of joy seem to want to burst out of their frame. At any moment, we expect to see it vibrate with the effect of laughter.
And because emotion never comes alone, the merrymakers are accompanied by their quieter counterparts, lost in thought or weary of so much exuberance. Calm and storm, in short, brought together in a single work, without us knowing exactly which comes first.
Ella & Pitr do not deny or sacrifice anything. Over the past fourteen years, we - gallery owners, collectors and art lovers alike - have seen what 'freedom to create' means for artists, without any restrictions on subject matter, size or theme. In early 2022, they decided to add another dimension to their work by working on a play that would showcase their interpretation of the act of painting. Thus, the play 'œuvrez les yeux, vous y verrez plus clair' (work your eyes, you will see more clearly) was born in 2024, performed for the first time at the Comédie de Saint-Étienne, then at the Théâtre Les Célestins in Lyon, before being presented in several cities across France.
With the studio never far away, the couple plans to return to the gallery at the end of 2026 with an exhibition at the Jonathan Roze Gallery in its new space in Rennes.
Jonathan Roze
February 2026