New York

Kristofer Porter & Christopher Davison

Fred Torres Collaborations // September 16 - November 13

"TALL TALES" is a two-person show of works on paper. In terms of numbers, Kristofer Porter dominates with 82 pieces, all of them from 2010. An art director in publishing by day, Porter has previously exhibited his work only once, also at Fred Torres Collaborations, as part of this past winter "Knock Knock: Who's There? Tha Joke Isn't Funny Anymore," a group show about humor in art. Formally inspired by underground cartoons and editorial illustrations, his drawings depict wandering souls caught in nightmarish worlds. The liveliest ones in the show are a salon-style hanging of ink and watercolor pictures of amputees, carolers, and monsters.

Christopher Davison has appeared at emerging galleries since 2000, including a solo outing at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, in New York, in 2009. Alluding to both art history and mythology, Davison's drawings portray fragmented men in motion, minotaurs, and processions of nude women.

For the collaborative portion of this exhibition, the artists created a visual game roughly modeled on the exquisite-corpse technique. Titled "Call & Response" and accompanied by its own Web site, the project involved each artist responding to a drawing by the other according to a strict set of rules regarding the size of the picture (no more than 7 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches) and the time to complete it (30 minutes). Exhibited in chronological order, the snappy little pieces daringly illustrate ideas from two talents who share a common love for a medium.

Paul Laster