Hsiao Chin

Biography

Hsiao Chin was a vanguard of Chinese modern and contemporary art in the mid-1950s, and he also spearheaded Chinese and Western contemporary art exchanges in Europe. Developed from Taoist and Zen philosophies, his art blends together Eastern and Western cultures and creative modern art experiences, with self-awareness realized through an approach that unveils innate characteristics in a straightforward and frank manner. Hsiao doesn't see art as his ultimate mission in life but uses creative means to explore the journey of life, to explore spiritual potential, and to realize the true meaning behind "being at one with nature". In becoming a successful artist, Hsiao Chin, along with others, slowly began to set into motion the "Movement of the Modernization of Chinese Art". By developing new methods of combining traditional Chinese and western thought and materials, he offered the perspectives and sensibilities of an Asian individual upon the international art stage. Even more importantly, his artistic journey brought about a deep wisdom: out of his unbounded loneliness within this infinite universe, an attitude of resolution emerged, and in search of common understanding, a unique awareness that all people are worthy of being recognized and treasured.

Hsiao Chin, whose ancestral home is in Zhongshan county in the province of Guangdong, was born in Shanghai in 1935. In 1949 he followed his father's sister and her husband to Taiwan, then in 1956 went to Spain as a student, afterwards travelling to Italy and New York to create and teach for the next 40-odd years. In 1996 he returned to Taiwan and was appointed a teaching position at the Tainan University of the Arts, went into retirement in 2005 and was appointed as an emeritus professor; that same year he was conferred the Knight of Italian Star of Solidarity by the president of Italy.