Monory’s direct reference to contemporary popular culture in his painting has had some critics align his 1960s work with Pop art of the period. But Monory produces a more pensive and sombre portrait of the modern world than that of his American contemporaries. Juxtaposing images from advertisements, magazines and newspapers, Monory creates cinematic, dreamlike paintings. Each is bathed in his distinctive Monorychrome filter of yellow, magenta or his signature Monorian blue.

Monory’s unexplained and incomplete narratives suggest that the artist has no intention of uniting his viewers in a shared understanding of the paintings’ content. He creates a narrative climate, but then he stops, and it’s up to us to create our own reality from his ambiguous paintings. No singular truth or meaning to be found? Oh hey Lyotard, the postmodernist theorist who defined contemporary culture by ‘incredulity towards metanarratives’. Lyotard saw something in the paintings of Monory that chimed with his own thinking and sent a letter across the French capital to tell him so. The film’s production follows the exchange of a series of letters between the two.

 Lyotard may now have had to make new celebrity friends in Paris’s Père Lachaise cemetery but Monory is still practicing artist. Space will be showing some of his film work and photography alongside the filmed conversation. (Words: Florence Ritter) 

 On until June 2nd.  For more info, visit: http://www.spacestudios.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/jean-fran-ois-lyotard-and-jacques-monory-screens

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For your chance to win, simply send us a “selfie” (a picture you’ve taken of yourself, most likely with a camera phone), with the person you’d like to go with and both of your names to info@theculturalexpose.co.uk by midday Friday, February 8th and a winner will be chosen at random.  Good luck! 

Three course menu 

Starters

• – Beetroot marinated smoked salmon, rocket and shaved fennel salad
• – Ham hock and rabbit terrine, rhubarb and plum chutney, toasted ciabatta
• – Grilled courgette rolls with aubergine caviar and grilled piquillo peppers

Mains

• – Grilled haddock, crushed new potatoes with goats cheese, chilli and mint pea puree, citrus aioli
• – Chorizo stuffed chicken breast, dauphinoise potatoes, roasted vegetables, chorizo cream sauce
• – Feta, caramelised onions and beetroot filo pastry strudel, green beans and rocket salad, with beetroot puree

Desserts

• – Sharing plate of passion fruit curd pots, banoffee tart, blueberry and white chocolate ganache cups

About Roxy Bar & Screen

Roxy was created to bring together cutting-edge digital screenings with high quality drinks & food.  Film screenings take place from Sunday to Wednesday on a large-scale, state-of-the-art digital cinema screen and surround sound system, offering viewers a unique, high quality cinema experience within a relaxed bar setting.  The hugely popular Film & TV Pub Quiz takes place every other Thursday, whilst the venue also screens the pick of sporting events at the weekends.  Good quality value-for-money pub food is served alongside an impressive wine, beer and cocktail selection. For more info visit www.roxybarandscreen.com/listings.php?event=2285

(For our competition terms and conditions, click HERE…)

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Which is why it’s refreshing to see a documentary celebrating the pure craft and the passion of an industry veteran. Ralph Rucci may not be a household name on this side of the pond but the couturier, who celebrates 30 years in the business this year, is the only American designer to have been invited to show at haute couture since Mainbocher in the 30s.

C. S. Leigh’s documentary follows the designer through four years in Paris in New York, as he negotiates the haute couture process from conception to catwalk, working with the world’s best artisans along the way. Featuring interviews with industry heavyweights Andre Leon Talley, Suzy Menkes and Cathy Horyn it seems this unsung great of the fashion world is finally taking his bow in the spotlight.

A Quiet American – Ralph Rucci & Paris is showing at Horse Hospital, Colonnade Bloomsbury, WC1N 1HX on September 17. For more info, visit www.thehorsehospital.com

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Described as “an unconventional love story between two young men trying to make sense of their lives” this is a story about love and acceptance and how not knowing if you really are loved or accepted can impact the way you approach relationships and in essence, life. Brave in its retelling of initial attraction and common apprehension, Weekend is even complete with characters gloriously mocking the fact that they’ve ended up in their very own Notting Hill.

Tom Cullen and Chris New’s chemistry, with the help of some striking cinematography, is really what defines Weekend as the kind of film you go to sleep still thinking about. What you’ll find quite refreshing in Haigh’s writing is the quality he has in being able to hint at reasons behind the characters’ apprehension in sex and relationships, without ever confirming them. And it’s that honest perplexity that resonates – and makes this altogether, an effortlessly striking film. (Words: Syriah Bailey) 

In cinemas November 4th (part of the 55th London Film Festival programme)

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