Chris Ballantyne’s work focuses on vernacular architecture and observation of the American landscape.  Banal features of suburban and industrial zones are sources for paintings that highlight the quirky and absurd.  Ballantyne states that, “Growing up in a military family and moving to different parts of the country, there was a certain familiarity to the kinds of houses and neighborhoods. They were a series of suburban developments built in separate regions of the country, always on the outskirts of larger cities, at the exit ramps of interstate highways, and all very similar in age and design.  My own notions of space developed out of this cultural landscape which was striving for an indidvidual sense of personal space,  consciously economic, and somewhere between urban and rural.” Dysfunctional structures are flawless in their strangeness, made beautiful through symmetry, simplified lines and flat, subdued colors. Ballantyne eliminates detail to emphasize the subtleties of the way we experience space and our attempts at containment. He extends these concepts further by expanding the imagery of his paintings beyond the picture plane and onto the surrounding walls. “Most of my works involve combinations of various places, drawn from memory. As well, my own interests in skateboarding and surfing altered how I saw  the use of these structures ranging from empty pools, sidewalk curbs, to ocean jetties in a way that tied in to my sense of this larger push and pull between culture and nature.” With shrewd restraint, Ballantyne accentuates the antisocial effects of our built environment with a hint of humor and plenty of ambiguity. A curious emptiness permeates the work of Chris Ballantyne. Graphically rendered buildings, pools, parking lots, and fences take on new meanings and amplified significance, isolated on flat fields of color.

Jessica Walsh is a NYC based designer, art director and illustrator. She worked as an art director at Print Magazine, and at design studios such as Pentagram Design and Sagmeister, Inc. Her work has won numerous awards from design magazines and competitions, including ADC's "Young Gun" award and Print's "New Visual Artist" award. She lives and works in Chelsea with her dog momo and a fridge filled with avocados.

Takeshi Fukunaga is a filmmaker based in New York City. His work has been featured in a wide variety of festivals and related outlets, including at Anthology Film Archives, Tokyo Fashion Week, on Gizmodo and in GQ Germany, amongst others. He is currently working in collaboration with Donari Braxton on the short film, Themes From a Rosary, and is additionally in preparation on his first feature project.  

Drawing on Everything.

Luna Adler is a Brooklyn-based writer and illustrator. She likes to think of herself as an agreeable Scorpio.