With “La Peintinoire”, Art Osons offers a must-see urban art spot in Cergy-Pontoise France!

When you enter a skating rink, you’re often drawn in by the distinctive smell and the sound of blades splitting the ice. In Cergy-Pontoise, when you enter La Peintinoire, a skating rink closed since 2016, it’s the smell of the sprays that strikes you first. And of course, the multitude of shimmering colors imprinted on our retinas immediately makes our heads spin!

In February 2023, the city of Cergy Pontoise had the excellent idea of entrusting the Art Osons association with the keys to the Cergy ice rink before it was transformed. After 5 months’ work and the participation of over 42 urban artists, a space of over 2,000m2 opened its doors to visitors, free of charge… that’s all it took for me to go and have a look!

The Association invested this immense space in several phases. Firstly, the changing rooms and basement areas were covered in paint, and then the whole track was transformed into a huge urban playground! I’m going to start my tour with this star-studded track, because it took my breath away as soon as I entered the premises!

 

The runway, the heart of La Peintinoire reactor

I’ll start this chapter with the piercing, hyper-punchy look created by Le Mec Blasé… You can’t miss him as you enter the Peintinoire, as he’s like the master of the premises of this ultra-colored space! Le Mec Blasé contributed enormously to this project, and I’ll come back to that later 😉

 

My real desire is to share with you my favorite place, which I’m sure will be very different from yours when you visit. Before La Peintinoire, I knew little about the work of artist 2Li-Leina, but as soon as I entered the place, two very hip hop faces jumped out at me, and I loved the energy they exuded. When I turned my head to take in the immensity of the place, it was another, harder face with a steady gaze that mesmerized me. After observing this face for a long time, and the dripping technique used, I said to myself that this young artist had a lot going for her!

A little further on, under Piet Mondrian‘s stained-glass windows, we find a perfectly executed anamorphosis… I was reminded of the magnificent face she had created at Spot 13, which had been vandalized far too quickly!

 

The more I look at her work, the more I find the expressions of her models interesting, even fascinating. Leïna (real name), an artist from Cergy-Pontoise, brings a human touch and feelings to urban art, and that always touches me… Perhaps it’s a counterpoint to the world we live in! Whatever her intentions, for me she’s one of this young generation of artists to watch!

Some artists are from Cergy-Pontoise, others from neighboring towns or even much further afield… Of course, I recognize some of the blazes and creations at first glance, such as REA‘s magnificent scrolls or Abër‘s capes. I could amuse myself by making a long list of artists with photos, but I’d rather tell you about the atmosphere of La Peintinoire! Piet Mondrian and Abstract Art… The clean, colorful straight lines of this illustrious Dutch painter blend beautifully with the intelligent work of young urban artists, thanks to Art Osons‘ leadership on this project!

 

 

Piet Mondrian in the land of graffiti… ” The Perfect Match!”

When you set out to discover a new temple of urban art, you don’t expect to come face to face with a great classic of abstract art! A Mondrian stained glass window in a skating rink? Why not, since this painter still inspires architects to create modern building facings! But it’s impossible to know more about this stained-glass window! Is it real, an inspiration, a copy…? I’m told it’s real and will be dismantled and reused at a later date, but my e-mails to the Cergy town hall have not been answered… Radio silence. So I say to myself that it’s real, and that Art Osons has had the intelligence to respond to this work with color codes and a very urban style. The artists were inspired by this wide, colorful, rectilinear strip to integrate it brilliantly into their work!

 

 

 

The Blaze by Nexer, a talented artist from the Val d’Oise, is featured in 3D and trompe l’oeil on two separate surfaces. A magnificent floral composition by MA2P, as well as his signature character and many other works. The result is a giant, highly coherent work that destructures Mondrian’s colors and breathes new life into them!

 

Enter the lair of La Peintinoire!

It’s the basements that have been invaded by the artists in 1st, and even if we find a few details of the original ice rink, skates that have gone under the paint bombs and a few installations referring to the world of ice, we quickly forget that we’re in the basement of an ice rink.

 

Instead of creating around the world of skating, the artists have appropriated the premises, reinventing the spaces to showcase their personal work, their worlds.

The result is an astonishingly varied stroll. We pass from two magnificent portraits by Sitoumatt, to an almost futuristic tiger imagined by Sintez in collaboration with Fwedkistaa, continuing with a very fun trompe l’oeil by Le Mec Blasé.

 

 

 

The atmosphere reminds me a little of the magnificent ephemeral venue that was organized in Abbeville, albeit on a much smaller scale of course… perhaps because Cannibal Letters had also signed a work there… who knows?

Want to enjoy La Peintinoire? Get organized now!

Mark your calendars! Only two dates are currently available, and admission is free. La Peintinoire is open on June 25 and July 2 from 12pm to 6pm… The address is easy to remember: La Peintinoire – Parvis de la Préfecture, Cergy-Pontoise – France. If the organization is the same as last year, you’ll find a large bar for refreshments and some delicious homemade cookies for gourmets…

As you’ll see, whether you go to the bar, the toilets or the changing rooms, the artists have a surprise in store for you in every corner.

For those of you who’ve been following me for a while, I can confirm that, after an 18-month absence from the Blog, my Street Art adventures are back, and I must admit I’ve really missed them! See you soon for new adventures…

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