Crystal Topcoat- Payton McGowen and Adam Linn

Payton McGowen and Adam Linn

Crystal Topcoat

September-October 2022

Pushing the limits of their media while staying true to its youthful spirit, Adam Linn and Payton McGowan use colored pencils and pastels to render luscious imaginariums where the world is alive with wonder. Crystal Topcoat unites two artists whose subjects outmaneuver the limits of the human body in finely detailed and richly saturated worlds which feel parallel to one another as well as to our own. McGowen’s drawings feature faces enraptured by blossoms made from the same substance–color-shifting, gummy-like skin whose translucent luster conjures that of a bubble floating peacefully the moment before being popped. In lieu of faces and flowers, Linn depicts the insignificant moments between the magic with hands, feet, and tails; his anthropomorphic heroes (and villains) navigate a world of long hallways and locked doors, revealing richly textured close-ups of a labyrinthine world that is as altered by its subjects as the subjects are altered by the world. While the exhibition’s title references the most well-loved budget varnish spray used by wet and dry media artists alike, Crystal Topcoat is less about setting something into permanence and more about the impossibility of stasis outside of the page: in reality, in fantasy, and in nightmare.

Payton McGowen creates drawings and paintings depicting a unique cast of off-the-grid toon-like characters lounging, dancing, and generally being naked, in rich gradients and stunningly smooth detail. Subjects–particularly, women–and objects throughout McGowen’s work are buoyant, unbothered, and powerful: a vision of an alternate world free from the hardships of industrialized society. Payton McGowen lives in Austin and has had two prior solo shows with Martha’s.

Adam Linn explores queer discovery, self-perception, and masculinity through uncanny drawings, paintings, and prints. Through the lens of anthropomorphism, Linn explores how the human body is constrained in literal and metaphorical ways, and how these constraints are altered by one’s environment. Objects are situated in states of change as they become, or mimic, human behaviors. Locks, handles, keys, shoes, flames and tails all operate with human-like wishes and wills, each uniquely representing the figure unencumbered by the limits of human form. Adam is pursuing his MFA in studio art at SUNY Purchase. This will be his first exhibition at the gallery.

Press release written by Lindsey Scott Lascaux.

Payton McGowen
***Jelly World***
**2022**
**27" x 38 drawing, 30" x 40" framed with museum glass**
**Colored pencil on paper**

Payton McGowen
***Fruit Punch***
**2022**
**13" x 17" drawing, 16" x 20" framed with museum glass**
**Colored pencil on paper**

Payton McGowen
***Blue Raspberry***
**2022**
**13" x 17" drawing, 16" x 20" framed with museum glass**
**Colored pencil on paper**

Payton McGowen
***Strawberry Lemonade***
**2022**
**17" x 13" drawing, 20" x 16" framed with museum glass**
**Colored pencil on paper**

Payton McGowen
***Grape Soda***
**2022**
**17" x 13" drawing, 20" x 16" framed with museum glass**
**Colored pencil on paper**

Adam Linn
***Articulator***
**2022**
**30" x 40"**
**Colored pencil, watercolor, and pastel on paper mounted panel**

**Adam Linn**
***Treasure Miner***
**2022**
**20" x 30"**
**Colored pencil, watercolor, and pastel on paper mounted panel**

Adam Linn
***Vixen***
**2022**
**8" x 10"**
**Colored pencil, watercolor, and pastel on paper mounted panel**

Adam Linn
***Lure***
**2022**
**8" x 10"**
**Colored pencil and pastel on paper mounted panel**