They're back! The rascal roosters return in Farny Fables, the latest installment in Michael Scott's Orwellian critique of the art world.

Like his previous series, Penny's Grand Vision (1999) and The Diaries of Little Red Hen (2002), Scott's lavish paintings link to a droll and philosophically subversive narrative. While posing his barnyard characters against send-ups of traditional Dutch still-life painting, Scott also poses some pretty gnarly questions.

What is creativity? What is inspiration? What are your chances of making it big? What's the relationship between art and money, worth and value? Which is more priceless, your grandmother's beloved recipe for a prize-winning cake or those auction blockbusters, Henry Farny's romantic paintings of American Indians?

Scott conjures a dazzling fantasy world where the Dutch Old Masters rub shoulders with Farny's vanishing Indians amidst a state fair sideshow of American popular culture. Rembrandt's Polish Rider joins Farny's braves on a nighttime raiding party that turns into a carousel ride to Las Vegas riches. The roosters search for the missing recipe, while Dutch burghers and capitalists, transformed into Wild West trappers and cowboys, call the cards and bargain for the artist's soul. Treachery is foiled by the ghost of Vincent van Gogh, a joker/trickster who deals out four queens—Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Faith—and steers the participants toward true value and worth. High jinks abound in this show and companion catalogue, featuring Scott's narrative and an introduction by Ben Mitchell.