Xiu-ping Liao

Festival, Abstract Geometric Etching and Aquatint by Xiu-ping Liao

circa 1969

Shiou-ping Liao (1936-) is a Taiwanese Asian Modern & Contemporary painter. He grew up in the neighborhood of Lungsh a Temple in the Monga area of Taipei. After graduating from the Department of Fine Arts at the National Taiwan Normal University(NTNU), Liao decided to further his studies and went to Japan and France. In October 1965 Liao joined the famous print studio in Paris Atelier 17 where he studied printmaking under Professor S.W. Hayter. During the period of studying abroad, Liao was aware of the importance of his own culture, and derived inspiration from familiar childhood scenes such as Lungshan Temple, Wanhua Market and all the festive celebrations and crowds of worshippers, and used various techniques to make prints. In 1966, Liao's multicolored metal-plate etchings were the main content of an exhibition held at the National Taiwan Museum. In addition, Liao’s series of works with the topic of "doors" attracted the attention of various major international print exhibitions. His work La Fête was acquired by the Musée d'Art Moderne. Thanks to a recommendation from Professor S.W. Hayter, Shiou-Ping Liao was hired as an assistant by the prestigious Pratt Institute's print center in 1968. While staying in the United States, Liao learned a variety of brand-new print techniques, started his own studio and earned numerous awards. In 1969, his work Festival of Sun won first place in New York's 28th Audobon Art Show. However, in 1973, at the time when serious political-diplomatic crises erupted in Taiwan, Shiou-ping Liao, who had been living overseas for 11 years and had achieved considerable success as an artist in the U.S., chose this time to come back to Taiwan. He taught printmaking courses in NTNU, as well as traveled around Taiwan giving lectures and hands-on demonstrations, helping to lay the foundations for the subsequent development of modern printmaking in Taiwan.