Scott Guion’s two works, Through the Looking Glass and The Lawn Jockey’s Revenge, 2008, are photo-realistically painted representations of New Orleans scenes with very loaded imagery and subject matter. Through the Looking Glass is set at Club Fabulous, a bar on Claiborne Avenue. In this piece we see a young white child riding a black panther, which is part of the decoration of the club. Security cameras, a Junction East sign, Dixie beer, a queen of hearts, a mushroom, and a caterpillar barely scratch the surface of visual references deployed in this piece. He tells a story of New Orleans life and culture from a unique and significantly detailed viewpoint. The Lawn Jockey’s Revenge takes place in front of Ms. Mae’s, a bar on Magazine Street. A drunken white couple, one of New Orleans well known caricatured figures, is fighting at the forefront. One has a broken beer bottle, the other a knife. An African American figure, in the manner of a lawn ornament from earlier in the century, is riding Jackson’s horse; both are red. Another African American figure dressed in a flowing red robe is seated on a gold sphere with a rainbow crossing his body. Additionally there is a white homeless man walking in front of the bar. Again, this imagery is only some of what is present in these very elaborate paintings. They are politically charged, expressive, and very beautifully crafted.
Mary Colleen Hickey.