A life's work on show

Liao Shiou-ping, a print artist from Taiwan, is holding his first-ever solo show on the mainland, at the National Art Museum of China.

On display are 120 print works, oil paintings and sculptures. His Temple Decoration series (1965-67) draws inspiration from the ornamental motifs on ancient Chinese bronze and ceramics; the red, black and gold tones of traditional folk arts of Taiwan; and Taiwan's wood-block print tradition. The Gates series (1968-73) employs symbols of everyday life such as clothes, forks, chopsticks and plates, to explore the relation between human beings and the universe and the harmony that the circle of yin and yang embodies. In his Dream series (2003), the many hands reaching up from under the earth express the artist's sorrow, helplessness and frustration over his wife's death.

Liao was born in 1936 in Taipei, into a family of architects. He studied in Japan and France and pursued his art career in the United States. He is hailed as a passionate and dedicated promoter of the art of print making in Taiwan.