At first glance, we are invited to gather around these two arms which meet, synonymous with the starting point of running. After immediately breaking the ice between spectators, athletes and coaches, the rest of the fresco gives way to performance. Faced with the illustration of a large female figure who sets an example, the group, motivated, sets off onto the asphalt.
An energy that Audrey Laurençon wanted to translate with a participatory work, which we discover in the footsteps of these women. “The important thing was to go further, with a track that disappears little by little so that the rest of the story is written in its own way”she explains to us.
In addition to walking around it, by participating in the free coached sessions every Thursday (or not!), you quickly understand that the fresco is aimed at all Parisians. Rather Sunday sportswoman, athletics star or regular jogger, “there is not one who surpasses the others, we are all incredible women”would like to remind the artist.
Behind the symbolic aspect of painting on the banks of the Seine, we can sense a much more important message than motivating Parisians to resume sporting activity. This project, in which Audrey Laurençon is proud to have participated, is above all a way for women to reclaim public space.
Because the artist reminds us: a lot “feel anxious at the idea of coming alone in the evening to places like this where there are people”. This fresco is therefore also a way of encouraging women to dare to take the plunge and go out. A goal that seems to fit the bill, in one of the capital’s privileged locations.
