Curtain Call features 14 works by American artist Adam Linn (b. 1995, Pittsburgh PA) exploring themes of seduction and adaptability through the lens of anthropomorphism. A traditional “curtain call” in theater productions occurs at the end of a performance and invites performers to the stage to be acknowledged by the audience. Often met with sustained applause, the performers hold their stance while being confronted with a sea of bodies they cannot fully discern. This phrase encapsulates Linn’s exhibition as the “performers” in question are the characters of this anthropomorphized world, fully aware of their position on display. The figures in many of these works in some way acknowledge or “perform” for the viewer while deceiving perceptions and truths at the same time. Centering primarily around Linn’s pink pussycat character, the exhibition challenges dichotomies between real vs. imaginary, animal vs. human and hidden vs. exposed. The pussycat serves as an avatar for Linn’s childhood self in depicting moments of hiding, in a play like manner, from the viewer. The pussycat acknowledges the viewers gaze in a flirtatious way, ushering in closer inspection all while presenting a suspiciously coy grin. Other works depict anthropomorphized flames seducing the viewer, a limp-wristed collection of daffodils drooping over one another, curtains impersonating doors and windows, and a Swiss-army knife disguised as a hand. All these works in some way deceive truth and reality by inserting elements of the imagined or uncanny into recognizable forms. Objects mimic other materials while nonhuman beings display all too familiar sensibilities. The largest work details a set of feet wearing hybridized feline high-heels delicately balancing on a power line. This drawing represents an adaptation to ones environment because the environment is not suited for the individual. While it seems impossible to imagine balancing on a tightrope wearing heels, the implementation of feline flexibility and heightened perception imagines a reality in which animalistic attributes provide alternative solutions to sticky situations.

The works are all made in colored pencil with additions of oil pastel and crayon. Linn’s background in printmaking drew him to this layered and tedious process of drawing that allows for static-like textures and jewel-toned pigments. The drawings are made up of layers of pencil on watercolor paper which provides a rough texture upon which to apply the medium. Linn uses solvent glazing in areas to present a smoother finish so as to differentiate between materialities and spaces. The works overall operate somewhere in between drawing and painting, commanding a presence uniquely their own.

JPSギャラリーでは、アダム・リンの個展「Curtain Call」を開催いたします。本展は、JPSでの初個展であり、作家の国際デビューとなります。擬人化されたレンズを通して、誘惑と適応性をテーマにした一連の作品を展示いたします。

リンは、当ギャラリーでの初個展において、各場面のサスペンスと熱狂を観察し、参加させる演劇的な事件を構築しました。彼の擬人化されたキャラクターは、家族の中の一人であるか多数であるかは曖昧ですが、非現実的に誇張された設定で表現され、まるでのぞき穴やほこりのフリルや隠れ家を見るかのように、怪しくカーテンの向こう側を凝視しています。
今にも飛びかかりそうなこれらのキャラクターは、鮮やかな色彩で演劇性を表現しています。紙とパネルに色鉛筆、パステル、クレヨンという一見古典的な手法で、リンは虚飾を破壊し（しかし創造し）、私たち（そして彼）の警戒心と集中力を高める美しくコンパクトな物語を通して、人工物を暴くことを目的として物語を構築しているのです。

演劇の伝統的な演出である「curtain call」は、公演の終わりにパフォーマーがステージに戻り、観客にそのパフォーマンスを認めてもらうために行われます。観客から拍手喝采を浴びながら、パフォーマーはその姿勢を崩さず、自分でもよく見えないほどの数の観客を前にしているのです。
この言葉は、リン氏の展覧会を要約しています。「パフォーマー」とは、擬人化されたこの世界の登場人物で、自分の立場を十分に自覚している人物のことです。これらの作品の多くに登場する人物は、認識と真実を同時に欺きながら、鑑賞者を認め、あるいは「演じる」のです。