Timothy Linn
September 11, 1947 - August 10, 2015
An artist with a unique and personal approach to his work, Tim Linn explored the unlimited potential of his chosen media, in the fabrication of painting and its boundaries, often pushing himself to find something new and unexplored In the process. His work in fact speaks volumes about his experimental use of materials, media and surface, to investigate and experiment with the potential of a dialogue between two and three dimensions, in particular, the relationship between painted space and shallow relief, joining object and image into a dynamic dialogue.
Linn pursued both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and was clearly influenced by the architecture of the “Chicago School”. The inventive, geometric facades of buildings designed by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe, for example, were an early influence on his artwork. Linn’s experiments with surface and space began early in his artistic endeavors, particularly with the surface and materials that he would use to make his work, in an attempt to step away from any self-limitation that define painted and 3-dimensional space. Throughout his artistic career, Linn explored the potential of a wide variety of surfaces and materials, including carved wood, Styrofoam, cardboard and folded paper, collaging these materials as elements to a spatial and 3-dimensional composition. His fabricated, multimedia work has a spontaneity and directness that is at once both instinctual and logical, as if they were, of necessity, interdependent. This continual experimentation with materials and shapes resulted in an extended series of wall pieces that defy categorization, challenging the viewer to explore the connections between form, space and color. Linn’s large, two sided vertical works on paper, framed to be viewed from both sides, also expects or requires the viewer to explore the “content” and structure of the work, requiring their participation in it’s realization. As one experiment with form and content led to one or a series of others, Linn trusted to his instincts and experience to guide his realization of the work, often surprising himself in the resulting work.
Experimentation continued with the works from the early to mid 2000’s, from the painted vertical wall assemblages that resemble abstracted Oceanic totems, to the carved wood block (2005) that is both an homage to Brancusi and a freestanding, geometric icon. Linn’s recent works have a formal clarity that also maintains the handmade freshness of the artist’s earlier graphic/sculptural works. There is a youthful indulgence, a playful humor emanating from works on paper that have left and right panels, seemingly mirrored, but with subtle variations, and a long minimalist work of black lines that is reminiscent of Bob Rauschenberg and John Cage making their tire track impressions.
"However, the overtly simple composition of his works on paper often conceals the sophistication of Linn’s process. Both minimalist and formal, they are nonetheless deeply rooted in experiment and improvisation. In the large two-sided gouaches on paper, Linn fashioned the ultimate enigma; a work of art that requires the viewer to interact with it, only to realize that it can only be fully experienced with our participation, as we interact with it, and the artist, in a visual dance." Robert G. Edelman, Painterly Geometrics, Heskin Contemporary, 2011
Linn pursued both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and was clearly influenced by the architecture of the “Chicago School”. The inventive, geometric facades of buildings designed by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe, for example, were an early influence on his artwork. Linn’s experiments with surface and space began early in his artistic endeavors, particularly with the surface and materials that he would use to make his work, in an attempt to step away from any self-limitation that define painted and 3-dimensional space. Throughout his artistic career, Linn explored the potential of a wide variety of surfaces and materials, including carved wood, Styrofoam, cardboard and folded paper, collaging these materials as elements to a spatial and 3-dimensional composition. His fabricated, multimedia work has a spontaneity and directness that is at once both instinctual and logical, as if they were, of necessity, interdependent. This continual experimentation with materials and shapes resulted in an extended series of wall pieces that defy categorization, challenging the viewer to explore the connections between form, space and color. Linn’s large, two sided vertical works on paper, framed to be viewed from both sides, also expects or requires the viewer to explore the “content” and structure of the work, requiring their participation in it’s realization. As one experiment with form and content led to one or a series of others, Linn trusted to his instincts and experience to guide his realization of the work, often surprising himself in the resulting work.
Experimentation continued with the works from the early to mid 2000’s, from the painted vertical wall assemblages that resemble abstracted Oceanic totems, to the carved wood block (2005) that is both an homage to Brancusi and a freestanding, geometric icon. Linn’s recent works have a formal clarity that also maintains the handmade freshness of the artist’s earlier graphic/sculptural works. There is a youthful indulgence, a playful humor emanating from works on paper that have left and right panels, seemingly mirrored, but with subtle variations, and a long minimalist work of black lines that is reminiscent of Bob Rauschenberg and John Cage making their tire track impressions.
"However, the overtly simple composition of his works on paper often conceals the sophistication of Linn’s process. Both minimalist and formal, they are nonetheless deeply rooted in experiment and improvisation. In the large two-sided gouaches on paper, Linn fashioned the ultimate enigma; a work of art that requires the viewer to interact with it, only to realize that it can only be fully experienced with our participation, as we interact with it, and the artist, in a visual dance." Robert G. Edelman, Painterly Geometrics, Heskin Contemporary, 2011
Timothy Linn "#3" (2009) Gouche and molded Japanese hinge paper on Czech watercolor paper. 14" x 10"
"Timothy Linn has developed his artistic vocabulary over years of experimentation within the traditional media of painting and sculpture, leading to a recent body of work that is compelling for its clarity and directness. Over time, he has pared down his imagery to the point where material and concept are of equal importance in the visual dynamic of his two and three-dimensional works. The work is drawn from sources as diverse as architecture; the geometries of pre-Columbian artifacts; workmanship in the recently discovered Staffordshire hoard; shapes inspired by a shampoo bottles; tap dance; jazz music; the paintings of Guston, Matisse, Cezanne, the Polish Constructivists; the enormous sculptures of Serra; and many keen observations of nature. In his synthesis of these divergent sources it is evident that Linn is entirely at ease with the complex lessons offered by modern, contemporary, primitive, and ancient art alike. His works on paper and sculpture demonstrate how an artist can work with a set of criteria and apply it with variations to different media, ultimately finding something unique and distinctive in the process. The works on paper are distinguished by their overt simplicity, coming as they do from years of searching for essential forms and reductive gesture. The format, for both the sculpture and works on paper, is primarily vertical, suggesting both figuration, and, more significantly, architectural space. In fact, a painterly architecture might be an accurate or poetic way to describe Linn’s art in its lean and linear appearance." Jennifer Riley, 2010, Of Necessity at Heskin Contemporary
"Timothy Linn has collected materials over decades from natural and urban environments. Linn has utilized some of these materials in previous works and often recycles them into new pieces. The artist selects these objects, for their tactile and visual qualities, most of them, in one way or another, have an affinity with the limited geometries of primitive and ancient art." Heskin Contemporary
Timothy Linn received his MFA and BFA from The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. In the eighties he collaborated (designing sets) with Henry Threadgill’s Run Silent, Run Deep, Run Loud, Run High for BAM, Brooklyn, New York. His first one-person exhibition was in Chicago at the N.A.M.E. Gallery, in 1975. The artist has had a number of solo exhibitions in New York and Chicago. His work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions in Europe and throughout the U.S. Linn had two solo exhibitions with Heskin Contemporary, "Of Necessity, Recent Works on Paper and Sculpture", with an essay by Jennifer Riley, April-May, 2010, and "Painterly Geometrics", that included paintings, wall constructions and works on paper, February-March, 2013, with a brochure essay by Robert G. Edelman. In addition, Linn's work was included in several group shows at Heskin Contemporary, including an exhibit of a woodcut portfolio entitled "Five Fathoms", published by Protophorm Press, in 2013. Linn's work was also included in the exhibition "Painting: Expanded" at the Indiana University Center for Art and Design in December 2014, curated by the artist Jennifer Riley, where she noted about his work, that "In between are Linn’s “hybrid villages” of models for unrealized large scale paintings supported by sculptural forms."
"Timothy Linn has collected materials over decades from natural and urban environments. Linn has utilized some of these materials in previous works and often recycles them into new pieces. The artist selects these objects, for their tactile and visual qualities, most of them, in one way or another, have an affinity with the limited geometries of primitive and ancient art." Heskin Contemporary
Timothy Linn received his MFA and BFA from The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. In the eighties he collaborated (designing sets) with Henry Threadgill’s Run Silent, Run Deep, Run Loud, Run High for BAM, Brooklyn, New York. His first one-person exhibition was in Chicago at the N.A.M.E. Gallery, in 1975. The artist has had a number of solo exhibitions in New York and Chicago. His work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions in Europe and throughout the U.S. Linn had two solo exhibitions with Heskin Contemporary, "Of Necessity, Recent Works on Paper and Sculpture", with an essay by Jennifer Riley, April-May, 2010, and "Painterly Geometrics", that included paintings, wall constructions and works on paper, February-March, 2013, with a brochure essay by Robert G. Edelman. In addition, Linn's work was included in several group shows at Heskin Contemporary, including an exhibit of a woodcut portfolio entitled "Five Fathoms", published by Protophorm Press, in 2013. Linn's work was also included in the exhibition "Painting: Expanded" at the Indiana University Center for Art and Design in December 2014, curated by the artist Jennifer Riley, where she noted about his work, that "In between are Linn’s “hybrid villages” of models for unrealized large scale paintings supported by sculptural forms."
Bio: Robert G. Edelman © 2015
Photo: Holger Keifel © 2013