MOSTRE

The exhibition opening on 1 March at Galleria il Ponte is a mini retrospective dedicated to Hsiao Chin, with 16 works on canvas and paper and some etchings dating from 1960 to 1997. In the early 1990s, owner of the gallery and printer Vincenzo Albrandi had collaborated with the artist on a number of graphic works. This resulted, in 1993, in a portfolio of 16 colour aquatints entitled Verso il giardino eterno and then in 1998, an exhibition of works on paper, accompanied by a catalogue whose first 60 copies contained an original aquatint.

Hsiao Chin’s career followed an extremely personal path. Educated in the Chinese artistic milieu, he came to Europe in the mid-1950s, first arriving in Spain where he got to know the biggest names in the country’s Informel movement (Tapies, Saura, Millares, …). This brought him into contact with all the recent experiences of the European Informel and the burgeoning ab- stract expressionism of the nascent New York School.

His first trip to Italy dates to 1958, the following year exhibiting right here in Florence, at Fiamma Vigo’s Galleria Numero. He then moved to Milan, where he frequented the city’s artistic circles (Fontana, Manzoni, Castellani, …), meeting and beginning a long-term working relationship with Giorgio Marconi.

Hsiao Chin’s painting revolves around colour. His works are built with always pure, decisive, unwavering colours and his equally as unwavering style. He makes them quickly, with no second thoughts. So simple is the image’s construction that there is no room for hesitation. His control over the act of painting is total. His style is unique, unrepeatable, the result of long, deep meditation, revealing its roots in culture and Eastern tradition. Everything happens on the surface of the work and every single gesture is an event that defines and determines the space, giving it meaning.