BORN
1971, Paris, France
1994 Master in Art History, La Sorbonne, Paris, France
2009 - 2024 Los Angeles, CA
2026 Lives and works in France
I began my practice as a photographer. My early work included Naples, a photographic book now published by Gallimard, followed by a number of series made in California, such as Sands Motel and Seven Years.
During fifteen years in Los Angeles, my work gradually moved beyond photography and evolved through different mediums, shifting between memory, perception, reality and fiction. For several years, this took shape through Wonderland Stereo, an imaginary music label developed through photography, writing, painting and sound.
From there, my practice moved toward painting, collage, watercolor and works on paper, with the Hollywood Diaries marking an important transition. More recently, I have become increasingly absorbed by painting and drawing, particularly working with colored pencils, attracted to the slowness of the gesture and the rhythm created by color, texture and repetition.
Music has always run through my work. That sense of rhythm gradually led me to imagine my drawings beyond the page — as prints, surfaces and fabrics. In 2019, I began collaborating with fashion brands including Barbara Bui and La Prestic Ouiston, bringing my visual language into a new context.
This evolution eventually led to Magnolia, a clothing label named after the J.J. Cale song we listened to on road trips through California. Conceived as an extension of my visual practice, Magnolia brings drawing, color and rhythm into clothing.
MAGNOLIA — WILDWEST / COLLECTION 01
Launching October 8
magnoliabyvanessaatlan.com
SELECTED SHOWS
2026 : Galerie Zoom, Sète
2024 : Group Exhibition, Show Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 : AMI, Sète, France
2022 : Selected works, Show Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Sète-Los Angeles, Show Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Sète-Los Angeles, The RIO, Sète, France
2018 Hollywood Diaries, Show Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014 Wonderland Stereo, Paris/Berlin, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Wonderland Stereo, Bonni Benrubi, New York, NYC
2011 Wonderland Stereo, HIE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2009 Galeria Tagomago, Madrid Foto, Spain
2008 La chute ou la lutte, curated by N. de Saint-Phalle, Kaplan’s Project, Naples, Italy
2008 Naples, Galerie Philippe Chaume, Paris, France
2004 Photographies, Paris-Méditerranée, Sète, France
Engraving, signature for Sète-Los Angeles group show, 2019. With Jim Shaw, Kim Gordon, Marnie Weber.
COLLABORATIONS
La Prestic Ouiston + Ron Herman, Los Angeles, CA
La Prestic Ouiston, Paris, France
Bonton, Los Angeles, CA
Very French Gangsters, Los Angeles, CA
Barbara Bui, Los Angeles, CA
Merci, Paris, France
PUBLICATIONS
Naples, 2008 “Portraits de Villes”, Published by Gallimard, Paris
L’Hippocampe, 2007 limited edition portfolio of 15 lithographs printed on a handmade paper, Studio Woolworth, Paris
Wonderland Stereo, 2015 self-publication, Los Angeles
SELECTED PRESS
2018 “Hollywood Diaries by Vanessa Atlan”, Curatela.com
2016 “Splash! road-trip photographique”, Glamour
2014 “Vanessa Atlan: Wonderland Stereo”, L’Oeil de la Photographie
2013 “Vanessa Atlan Rocks”, Eve Thérond, Photo Magazine
2012 “Wonder woman”, J.D Beauvallet, Les Inrocks
2011 “California vibrations, la nouvelle vague”, Les Inrocks
2011 “Vanessa Atlan Photography Exhibit”, Westwind Blog, UCLA
2011 “Portraits de villes, Regards singuliers sur la ville”, Le Monde
2009 “Paris Street Views, Vanessa Atlan”, Elle Deco
2003 “Vanessa Atlan, Portrait”, Vogue