Monory constructed a unique setting here, where his painting defines the exhibition space that becomes a cage shared by the “subjects” of the painting – humans, animals, objects, accessories – and the visitors who, strangely, occupy the middle of the “ring”. Jacques Monory is indeed very attached to staging his work to enhance the sensations of his creations within a constructed whole. The choice of a panoramic format for this new series of paintings confirms that cinematic language permeates and nourishes Monory’s work. The oil paintings on display, executed with the strength of collages, sublime, through compositions, the depicted scenes. The visitor is then immersed in Jacques Monory’s “truly unreal” world that portrays scenes where violence is omnipresent – both a parody of film noir, a metaphor for existence, and a conjuring of death – all while using his “blue-screen” filter to distance any form of cruelty while protecting himself from it. The tiger, an ambiguous figure of strength, mastery, tenderness, and cruelty, meets the urban landscape in which it emerges and settles in.
This new series of canvases created in 2008 on this theme allows for a historical reminder of his Tigers series made in the 1970s. A canvas from this earlier series, Dreamtiger No. 4, dated 1972 and part of the Marguerite and Aimé Maeght Foundation collection, welcomes the public from the entrance hall, inviting them to enter Monory’s universe. A selection of experimental films made by the artist is also projected in the rooms presenting part of the permanent collection.
Jacques Monory’s work has definitively entered into collective memory since his appearance within the Narrative Figuration movement. His work haunts us today to the point of becoming essential. Always containing the strength of an open narrative, it produces impressive images that add to the icons of contemporary culture.
The use of images directly coming from contemporary civilization, photographic, cinematic and television borrowings, the use of monochrome primary colors, and the strength of the composition characterize his unique style, rooted in representation. Monory unravels for us, and with us, the calendar of images from our world and our imagination, where information, news items, and fantasies coexist and exchange their capacity to feed our inexhaustible fascination with the image.
Fondation Maeght – 06570 Saint-Paul – tel: 04 93 32 81 63
