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" Sometimes there is a fine line between a dream and a nightmare\u2014and the paintings of Jules de Balincourt bear this out. The Brooklyn-based artist, who was born in France and raised in Los Angeles, conjures an imaginary universe in his Technicolor creations that depict odd and often ominous scenarios\u2014balaclava-clad characters liberate lab animals used for product testing in Free for All, while naked figures search for sanctuary in Men&amp;#039;s Safety Center.  Balincourt works with wood panels, tape, and spray paint in a handcrafted faux-naif technique that borrows from 1960s psychedelic posters, graffiti, and Outsider art. Though the images have a cartoon ease and the titles suggest a slacker attitude, his subjects are serious, from the psychological to the geopolitical. In We Warned You About China, for instance, a colorful elementary-school-style map of the emerging superpower is dotted with exclamation points. His cutting social commentary is not surprising considering he started his MFA program at Manhattan&amp;#039;s Hunter College just a few days after 9/11. &amp;quot;It was a very interesting political moment,&amp;quot; says Balincourt, whose wry paintings like United We Stood or Neighborhood Watch reflect a lingering trauma.  &amp;quot;There is a truth to Jules&amp;#039;s images and there&amp;#039;s a roughness,&amp;quot; says Joseph Whitt, a curator at Vanderbilt University&amp;#039;s Fine Arts Gallery, which recently mounted a Balincourt exhibit. &amp;quot;They strike a message of urgency, as if to say, &amp;#039;By any means necessary.&amp;#039;&amp;quot; Although Balincourt says he doesn&amp;#039;t regard himself as a &amp;quot;screaming Marxist,&amp;quot; he does dabble in activism. Three years ago, following the creed of one of his works, Think Globally, Act Locally, he opened Starr Space, a Brooklyn community center. It hosts local bands, art shows\u2014even the occasional church fundraiser. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s really an extension of what interests me in my artwork,&amp;quot; Balincourt explains, &amp;quot;social utopias and bringing people together.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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