Hsiao Chin (Xiao Qin)

Sala Gaspar, Barcelona
Principal Art, Barcelona
Private collection, Europe

The work is generally in good condition. Upon close inspection, there are two very thin cracks on the black paint located about 16 cm. from the left edge and 32 cm., from the top. There are small areas of chipping and wear on all sides of the frame. Under UV light inspection, there are no signs of retouching.
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Hsiao Chin: A Life-long Journey in Abstraction

Born in Shanghai, Hsiao Chin grew up in Taiwan and has lived in Italy for over half a century. Formally educated under the apprenticeship of Li Chun-shen but soon took on his independent course of artistic exploration, Hsiao Chin, as early as 1955, began making stirs in the Taiwanese art scene by forming the first Chinese abstract art group in history, Ton-Fan Art Group. In 1956, dissatisfied with artistic environment at home, Hsiao bought a one-way ticket to Europe and began what would become a life-long artistic journey across continents.

Hsiao appeared on the scene just as numerous new practices and tendencies were taking the Europe and American art world by storm. While in Spain, he befriended Art Informel’s core member such as Tàpies, Cuixart, Subirachs, and Saura. Meanwhile, France was enthralled with Lyrical Abstraction led by Georges Mathieu, and later reinterpreted by Zao Wou-ki. Late 1950s were hence characterized by Hsiao’s personal interpretation of various artistic movements in Europe, of which Pintura – Y of 1959 is a great example. Broad slashed of colours are liberally applied on the canvas; the dripping marks and the mutual contamination of colours bear witness to the spontaneity of the painting process. There’s the anxiety to break away from the Geometric Abstraction that prevailed in early 20^thcentury, however, perhaps because he was never to abandon signs and calligraphic form from his home culture, the spontaneous and occasional alignment of closed forms remains appealing for Hsiao.

1960s and early 1970s saw another evolution in Hsiao’s artistic career. He spent substantial periods of time travelling to Paris, London and New York, participating in exhibitions and absorbing the latest artistic trends. There was the buzz of art happenings across France, the sweepingly politicized Arte Povera movement in Italy, and the American Hard Edge abstraction and the American Pop… The broadened perspective didn’t distract Hsiao; it only encouraged his quest for a certain harmonious relationship between forms.  Tension – IX from 1969 and Amore – 1 from 1975 are both examples of Hsiao’s unrelenting pursuit.  “In the middle of the 60s, Hsiao’s path was clearly defined. While retaining the sources of his culture of origin, he also drew on the spiritual vibrations shared by Eastern and Western civilizations. He combined them intellectually and intuitively, assigning to ideology a live and credible form in works which continued to balance lyricism and an almost mathematical purity throughout the decade.” (S. Hunter, “Straordinaria sintesi tra Oriente e Occidente di Hsiao Chin,” in Hsiao Chin: Gathering Force, Beyond the Great Threshold to the New York Series, Taipei, 1977, pp.22-23)

Hsiao’s paintings were informed less by external artistic tendencies than internal revelations of varied schools of thought, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism. Many of Hsiao’s titles refer to Taoist precepts, far removed from historical tribulations, never evocative of dramatic narratives. Even when the titles do refer to specific events, evocations were often hazy and devoid of emotional accents. When the Tian’anmen massacre took place in his home country of China in 1989, Hsiao, who possessed a strong sense of righteousness, took on his brush and painted the “Non Dimenticare” (Do not forget) series, later known as the Tian’anmen series, to commemorate the young souls perished in the protests. The artist used murky colours to create a threatening mass that could be indicative of powerful natural phenomena as well as the presence of malignant forces. La Rinascita della Città 5 from 1989 is decidedly representative of the style of this period. The title is as ambivalent as the content: a hopeful rebirth, but from an unspeakable tragedy?

Hsiao has since embarked on various new phases of his search for harmony between forms, lines and between civilizations. “Nowadays, the issue regarding whether my paintings are Chinese or global is of no great meaning to me any longer. I am already trying to go beyond these limits. With the intention of creating paintings that are no limited by ideas or techniques. ” (Hsiao Chin, “The Universe Is My Mind,” in Infinity of Chi: Homage to the Master, Retrospective of Hsiao Chin, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, 2010, p.11)