Flipside, at 84 Withers Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, presents Picture This, a group exhibition of drawings by Mike Ballou, Matt Blackwell, David Brody, Brian Coleman, Joyce Pensato, Ward Shelley and Jim Torok. The show runs from January 7 - February 14. The opening reception is January 7 from 5:00 to 7:00. Flipside is open Saturdays and Sundays from 2:00 to 6:00 and by appointment.

Picture This: a dense architectonic two step...memorable hash and eggs in a diner...mini murals...a transparent tent...a summit with mice and ducks...tunnel time...a clown juggling balls...

David Brody's current drawings continue his investigation into the way that fragments relate to and imply a larger, often nonexistent whole. Brody uses translucent graph paper and color to construct intricate, two dimensional patterns that morph into convoluted, architectonic structures jutting about in an ambiguous space of shifting tonality.

Matt Blackwell creates drawings that are of everyday objects and tasks, combined with his stream of consciousness musings. They are intimate, a small notebook size, drawn mainly in ink with a focused but devil-may-care gesture. These drawings become a visual diary/fieldbook that provide a compelling source of material for his paintings and sculptures.

Brian Coleman's miniature recreation of a garden folly, a three dimensional, transparent tent made of vinyl, is drawn on with markers to define fabric folds and details. ColemanÕs other drawings are of well known buildings from the 20th century combined with the phrase ÒI want to believeÓ (a cryptic caption from a poster hanging in the office of agent Fox Mulder, fbi agent from the X-Files).

Mike Ballou is an artist who works in many mediums and creates a wide range of drawings in the process. BallouÕs multifarious style Ñ from gestural portrayals of animal characters to deftly rendered document drawings of his projects Ñ accommodates the varied conceptual approaches at play in his work. These drawings are an integral part of the refinement and actualization of his ideas.

Joyce Pensato's drawings are aggressive and twisted journeys into a cartoon/comics world with its underbelly completely exposed. PensatoÕs rapid gestures and smudges propel her changeling characters of ducks and mice into a state of mock, hyper-movement. These characters are infused with a potent psychological mix Ñ they are both vulnerable and angry at the same time.

Ward Shelley employs drawing to plan and document his projects, explore linguistic and visual puns, as well as chart people and events. His bold and humorous graphite gesture has depicted such projects as Bubble Boy, in which a participant in a bubble suit is tethered to the domed structure by an very long inflatable tube, and his elevated Tunnel piece (the length of a football field) which was built from the inside while Shelley was living in it.

Jim Torok, creates an extreme realism in his recent portraits of fellow artists and also poignant and hilarious cartoonesque characters. In TorokÕs autobiographical drawings he concocts a storyboard-like format to convey such events as Leaving Tribecca, to live in Williamsburg, and his recent surgery. Drawn in a funky, comic style, where Òless is moreÓ rules, Torok reduces and distills complex scenarios into tight and edgy narratives.

from left to right: Ward Shelley, Voyage Platform Suite, 42X60", mixed medium — Brian Colelman , X-File Drawing (Ronchamp), graphite on paper, 42x55" — Brian Coleman, Transparent Folly, 34x34x36", vinyl and marker — Joyce Pensato, untitled,charcoal on paper, 44x88"

Mike Ballou, 1999 - 2001, left: model documenting the exhibition of the mural project, It Was Right There Just a Minute Ago and working drawings (top to bottom) The Franz Schildkerecht Retrospective, A Clip, Way Repressed mixed media, 60x56"
above: A Clip, 1999, colored pencil on paper, 21x36"

Matt Blackwell, above: installation view of mixed grouping, ink, watercolor, coffee, pen on paper, 60x46"
left: untitled, 2000, 5.75x4", pen on paper

Ward Shelley, left: Bubble Boy, 2000, charcoal on paper, 22.5x30" — right: Bean Bag Chair Voyage, charcoal, ink, graphite on paper, 22.5x30"