ISABELLE BONZOM

 THE FLIGHT

A SITE-SPECIFIC FRESCO PAINTING

FOR THE PARK AT CHARENTON-LE-PONT CITY HALL, NEAR PARIS

Isabelle Bonzom The Flight, fresco painting, 2026, park of the Charenton-le-Pont city hall

This mural is painted a fresco on the Enedis company transformer unit located in the town hall park. It draws inspiration from the tones of the lime coating on the town hall— designated as a historic monument—which overlooks the transformer.

"L’Envolée" (The Flight) also takes its cues from the curves of the garden, the colors of the plants and the changing seasons, as well as the hues of the sky. Designed with the movement of visitors through this city-center garden in mind, The Flight evokes harmony, poetry, and evolution.

Across this functional, cubic structure, the artwork introduces dynamism, suppleness, fluidity, and lightness into the urban landscape. It invites the viewer to let their imagination take flight.

Based on the garden’s setting, the artist has conceived a series of murals that is a custom creation. With a keen interest in garden aesthetics and architectural heritage, Isabelle Bonzom researched a specific color palette, techniques, materials, and iconography for this mural project. While a contemporary work of art, this series of murals is in perfect harmony with the historic site and its garden.

The Flight, fresco painting in the park of the Charenton city hall, near Paris, a work of art by Isabelle Bonzom

To bring the transformer’s facade to life, the artist chose the iconographic theme of the butterfly for its lightness, fragility, and beauty.

For the City Hall park, Isabelle Bonzom chose a common species of Aglais, the Peacock Butterfly. She chose it for its splendor and rich colors—its reds, ochres, and off-white hues—which closely match the colors of City Hall. While passersby will have the chance to spot the Peacock Butterfly fluttering through the garden, even this seemingly ordinary butterfly is threatened with extinction. The artist plays on the contrasts between the monumentality of the wall and the lightness of the adult butterfly, between the building’s enduring, mineral nature and the butterfly’s ephemeral and fragile life.

The muralist uses the façade’s triptych division to depict three stages of the insect’s flight. At the same time, she breaks up the rigidity of this cubic, white building. The flight evokes evolution, movement, and delicacy.

The ocelli of this Aglais butterfly are reminiscent of those of a peacock, but for the artist, they also evoke the colors of the sky and the art of fresco painting composed of pure pigments. Indeed, the butterfly is a theme that Isabelle Bonzom has been exploring for several decades. In her frescoes, she senses parallels between the vibrant colors, pigmentation, and powdery texture of butterfly wings and the distinctive qualities of fresco painting. For the artist, fresco painting is above all about the freshness of tone and the revelation of pure pigment.

The Flight is thus a poetic reflection on our environment, a hymn to color and nature.

The Flight, fresco painting in the park of the Charenton city hall, near Paris, a work of art by Isabelle Bonzom

Visit the portal page dedicated to fresco painting and site specific art works on the website about Isabelle Bonzom