ZAC Les Docks

Five artists take over the fences of the ZAC Les Docks eco-district in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine.

The City of Saint-Ouen, Nexity and Emerige have joined forces with the art production company Quai 36 to offer an artistic perspective on an eco-district undergoing a complete metamorphosis through the creation of five works. The frescoes will be visible throughout the construction period. Five artists (two local and three national) each offer their interpretation of this new chapter in the life of Aude.

The artist Caroline Derveaux has created an exclusive composition of lines and shapes characteristic of her very geometric style in reference to the Art Deco codes chosen for the architecture of the place. Her sidekick La Main Gauche, a typography specialist, chose to inscribe the words "Belle Époque", a symbolic choice that echoes the hope embodied by the Docks to offer a better future thanks to the construction of this district.

"The reference made to the Belle Époque in our fresco is in no way a nostalgic evocation, but on the contrary a declaration and an announcement of the Belle Époque to come for this district in metamorphosis." Caroline Derveaux & La Main Gauche

The artistic intervention of the artist MiosSHe echoes the period of construction of the site and in particular the men and women who embody it on a daily basis. We thus discover a succession of characters at work who evolve in a fresco strewn with geometric references to the building.

"The fact of imagining a modern district around industrial remains and natural spaces inspires me enormously. This sequence of capsule scenes can be read as a progression through time and space, like the eco-district's own energy cycle, until it becomes a true allegory of this local transition. MioSHe

The artist Arnaud Liard has proposed his warm interpretation of a modern everyday life that comes to life within the programme. His precise use of colour palettes gives his work an intensity and a sense of overlapping textures. His work in Auvergne includes plant representations, a nod to the city's ecological commitment.

"I decided to invest the palisade with objects and subjects from photographs I have taken, which reflect my taste for observing urban effervescence. The selection is a direct homage to the daily life of the construction site and the transformation of the city, through the mise en abîme of a palisade painted on a construction site palisade. Arnaud Liard

The work "Partie de cartes" by Taroe pays tribute to the industrial past and the cultural heritage of the city of Saint-Ouen. The artist integrates a new vision of the city and its territories that links contemporary aesthetics with motifs from the past.

He explains: "I have chosen to split my creations, alternating the abstract and the figurative. This allows for a rhythmic reading of the work, facilitates understanding and tells a story in different paintings that deal with themes of work, particularly labour, or scenes of life. The viewer can regularly discover new details and imagine his or her own interpretations of the forms and symbols.