Thomas Emerson Link Paintings

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Thomas E. Link Paintings

study for "Night", 1980, 24"x30"

In addition to opera performance, Link is an abstract painter. The artist's works are included in many private, public and corporate art collections in the United States. (All images are clickable to full screen views.)

Link received a Batchelor of Fine Arts Degree with special work in abstract painting from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. His large abstract paintings have been exhibited in more than 100 one-man and selected group showings in the US.

Artist's Statement:

" The visual mixing of color and coloristic effects produce by the physical outlay of pure color next to pure color as well as the variability of the surface texture are the main objectives of the works. The balance of shape, design and weight of color on the surface of the painting are important elements of the work. Various lighting conditions and viewing angles further alter the visual effects of the paintings. These kinds of visual interplay are also seen in the works of pointilist Georges Seurat and Hans Hoffman, whose color theories and paintings I continue to learn from through study.

Through the use of a grid of interlocking short line unite of varying colors and a non-literary pattern, the individual pure color units--viewed en masse, from a suitable distance--are mixed by the eye rather than the brush. Varying the intensity and hue of color creates the illusion of a multi-level picture plane, or perhaps an absolutely flat surface.

Newer paintings have added brushed features in addition to the line units creating a more complex surface texture and interplay of color effects."

AWARDS:

Bronze Medal & Third Award Prize - 37th Annual North Carolina Artists Exhibition; North Carolina Museum of Art

Grand Prize & First Award - RJ Reynolds Southeastern Juried Art Exhibition; Purchases for Permanent Collection World Headquarters

North Carolina Museum of Art Bequest Purchase for the Permanent Art Collection by the North Carolina Art Society: "Orangex Intersect"

PUBLICATONS: La Revue Moderne Des Arts et De La Vie; Paris, France. Art Voices South. American Artists of Renown. The New York Art Review, 1990. Various newspaper reviews including The New York Times.

COLLECTIONS: Permanent collections of the Frank Porter Graham Foundation, Springs Corporation, Ackland Art Center Museum, RJR-Nabisco North Carolina Collection, Atlantic Richfield Corporation, North Carolina Museum of Art, Phillip Morris Corporation, SunTrust Bank, Glaxo Smith Kline, Fayetteville Museum of Art and many other corporate and private collections.

What the critics have said: "Thomas Link has proved himself to be a high quality and prolifically-inventive artist. A master of the play of color and abstract design animated by a subtle sense of humor, Link's paintings have made this talented man's work familiar throughout the North Carolina community. In the beautiful, vibrating forces of these highly worked color surfaces, enhanced by their playful textural qualities, Link creates a truly captivating art." -- Norman E. Pendergraft, Director, Museum of Art and Assistant Professor of Art History, North Carolina Central University.