http://www.adamsavenuedesign.com/chinese-longshan/
Liao: One Of The Most Renowned Printmaking Artists
Early on this year, Taiwan’s Council for Cultural Affairs honored graphic artisan Liao Shiou-ping one of three National Cultural Awards. The 74-year-old artisan, renowned for blending Western printmaking methods with conventional Taiwanese and Chinese influences, was acknowledged for his great share to Taiwan modern culture.
He was born in Taiwan in 1936. His father was a civil engineer and as a young child, he would often explore the building blueprints spread out all over his father’s workdesk. Liao's family lived in close proximity to Taipei’s renowned Longshan Temple and he drew on recollections of the candles, incense and ghost money for most of his later work. Right after graduating as a painter from the National Taiwan Normal University in 1959, he moved to Tokyo, Japan, and after that to Paris, France, in order to further his education. While in Japan, Liao had taken graphic design lessons, an additional course to his major studies, and here discovered valuable training in color as well as structure. It was here, also, that he learned printmaking.
He started to learn oil painting at the Fine Arts Institute of Paris in 1965 and was encouraged by his instructor to learn a unique form for himself. He will spend most of his time wandering the collections of Chinese artifacts in the Guimet Museum that reminded him of the things he watched as a child in Longshan Temple. He developed the Gate series, his very first, during this time, making a distinctively Eastern print genre.
In 1969, he received an invite to exhibit at the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art. Liao opted to transfer to New York together with his family. Here, Liao made his Symbols series; ideas stemmed from the pictures and customs surrounding the Taiwanese Ghost Month. He considered that “an artisan’s style shows the rhythms of the world that he resides in.” His works from this time period happen to be strongly geometric indicating the proportion of the area.
The artisan returned to Taiwan in 1973 in order to teach at the National Taiwan Normal University and one year later, published The Art of Printmaking, still “the gold standard of introductory texts on the topic in the Chinese language.” He followed this teaching position with a few years educating in Tokyo and the United States. Vegetables, fruits, kitchenware as well as potted plants showcase heavily in Liao's Seasons series, a collection which then progressed into both the Gathering and Chat collection.
His latest works are those under the Knots, Life Symbols as well as Dreams collection. Knots evolved out of Liao's frustration with individuals who find it difficult to treasure their own prosperity. Life Symbols (2000) is made up of mixed media collage items making use of oil and acrylic paint, pencil drawing, wooden slabs and 2D painting and printmaking. He says these works convey “the concealed natural order which spreads throughout even the intricacy of modern life, and also a kind of celebratory joy.”
During his career, Liao Shiou-ping has held over 70 solo shows in New York, Paris, Tokyo and several other cities all over the world. Liao's artworks are obtained by foreign museums including the British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Museum of Modern Art (Tokyo), Taipei Fine Arts Museum as well as the Shanghai Museum. Liao established the Prix de Paris fund with two other educators in 1993. The fund provides help for young artisans to be able to study overseas.
Printmaking is a very broad medium in art and can be studied nearly anyplace, in art institutions or from printmaking artists. Once you learn the basics, you will find there are numerous ways to make a really great print.
Torture of Gao RongRong in the Longshan forced Labor Camp
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