St. Tammany Newspaper Article - Rex
Krewe of Rex commissions prolific local banner artist to create its Proclamation Poster
Folsom artist Molly McGuire has spent years studying the artistry of Mardi Gras posters.
“It’s a major source of inspiration for my work overall, and I’ve done a lot of Carnival and Mardi Gras-related artwork,” said McGuire, who is known for her quirky and colorful circus-style banners that depict everything from local legends to contemporary folklore and mythology.
That made a call last June from a Rex organization member extra special. The historic krewe wanted her to create its 2020 Proclamation Poster.
The unique commission is “one of the greatest honors I’ve had to date,” said McGuire, who signs and sells her artwork under the name Magwire.
The poster traditionally is revealed at a King’s Day celebration at Gallier Hall. It announces the start of the Carnival season and theme of the Rex procession on Mardi Gras. This year’s theme is “Omens and Auguries.”
The latter word is used to describe someone who interprets omens or fortunes. “I do a lot of psychic signage, so this was really up my alley," said McGuire, who was recommended for the commission by New Orleans artist Alex Beard. He created the 2019 poster.
McGuire invested more than 400 hours in the Proclamation Poster. She first created two completely different versions to present to Rex members for approval. They wanted a combination of two, which resulted in the final design.
The painting process itself took more than 100 hours, McGuire said. “I was so honored to do this piece I didn’t mind putting the work in. This is a historic piece that’s going to be archived with the rest of the memorabilia,” she added.
While the original was purchased by a local collector, the Rex organization produced 500 signed and numbered prints. McGuire got 50 of them to sell through her website.
The poster’s centerpiece is a black-haired fortuneteller. She holds a crystal ball and a tarot card with a crowned jester’s face on it. Among the various omens surrounding her are black cats, a wise owl, a lone raven, a death’s head moth and a bat. At the top, there’s a skeleton and moon, representing the unconscious mind, and a wizard with a flaming sun, representing the conscious mind.
The poster’s design “is balanced between good and evil, between chaotic omens versus good omens. The prophetic forces unite as one in the all-seeing eye at the top,” McGuire said from her home studio,
The entire scene is framed in gold scrolling vines and set against a deep purple background.
McGuire relied on her skills as a classically trained sign painter — she graduated from a sign painting school in Toronto — to create the precise typography of the poster’s required elements: “Rex Proclaims Mardi Gras” and “Pro Bono Publico,” the motto of the Rex organization. Its official name, “School of Design,” also is included on the poster.
The rest of the poster’s design “was really up to me to come up with,” McGuire said.
She also got to create the large-scale original poster in the same way as her other artworks: with recycled house paint on a repurposed drop cloth fitted with grommets for hanging.
“They wanted me to do it my style. That’s the beautiful thing about the Rex organization, is once they select their artist, they really give you carte blanche,” she said.
McGuire’s choice of painting surface and medium — gathered from the film production sets on which she once worked — initially came from “me being innovative out of being flat broke, not being (able to) afford conventional art supplies,” she said. “Now I could afford to paint on stretched canvas, but I still prefer using these recycled materials.”
A bass player, McGuire first moved to New Orleans in 1995 to study jazz before making her way to Los Angeles to pursue a music career. She returned to New Orleans in 2008 and took a job managing at the Bywater Art Lofts.
At the same time, she launched her art career and ultimately honed in on solely creating circus banners, a choice inspired by a carnival that would set up each year near her childhood home in Ontario.
“I was doing so many different types of art, but every time I read a success story on another artist, they were just doing one thing,” she said, adding that the banners “sort of ended up being the one art form that was the most rewarding for me on many levels.”
And as a good omen, just a week later she got a call from the production company for “American Horror Story.” They commissioned her to paint 15 circus banners for “Freak Show,” the show’s fourth season.
McGuire is now represented locally by SALADINO Gallery in Covington, as well as galleries in California, New Jersey and Toronto.
As Fat Tuesday approaches, McGuire said she doesn’t know if she’ll see the parades or attend the Rex Ball (she has an invitation). “I don’t know if I have time to go to Mardi Gras; I have so much else going on,” she said, and that includes preparing for this year’s French Quarter Festival.
McGuire created its official poster, and will be exhibiting artwork at the event April 16 to 19. She’s also exhibiting at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for the eighth year, and creating a poster for the Satchmo SummerFest.
“I’m very focused on what I’m doing right now,” McGuire said.
The Rex poster can be view online and the prints purchased at www.magwireart.com/all-prints/rex-2020-signed-proclamation-poster. An array of McGuire's work can be viewed at www.magwireart.com.