Monory Retrospective at Fondation Maeght: Accidental Rearrangement Reframes Blue

The Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence presents the first retrospective of Jacques Monory since his death in 2018, running until November 22, 2020. Due to COVID-19 social distancing rules, the exhibition's circulation direction was inverted, unintentionally reframing Monory's signature "bleu Monory." The forced reversal places his Technicolor series (1976-77) at the start, highlighting that his blue monochrome was always a critical commentary on contemporary image culture, not merely a trademark. The more familiar film noir-inspired works are moved to the end, revealing their political motivations within narrative figuration. The hang eschews chronology for formal and thematic resonances, pairing silent images like Death Valley landscapes with the Catalogue mondial des images incurables, and grouping works around cinema, including the explosions of Opéras glacés and Catastrophes. Critic Laurent Perez notes the exhibition's quality and abundance are expected given Monory's dealer family, but the overall curatorial logic remains obscure and messy.