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Lot Essay
“For me, the utmost important thing about painting is not the act of painting itself, but to explore the origin of one’s life, to record one’s feelings and experiences and to envision one’s future through the act of art-making.”
– Hsiao Chin
Vibration in Blue & Red was completed in 1966, at a turning point of Hsiao Chin’s artistic and personal journey – his Punto Art Movement had recently concluded, and Hsiao was about to move to New York – and the piece shows how the artist melded the East with the West, and used painting to explore the most primal forces of the universe.
Hsiao moved to Milan in 1959 and befriended artists such as Spazialismo founder Lucio Fontana, Zero Art Group master Enrico Castellani, Action Painter Franz Kline; he quickly immersed himself as part of Europe’s pioneering fine art circle, and found his own voice amidst the cacophony of creators, laying groundwork for his later work spearheading the Surya and SHAKTI movements around the world. Between 1961 and 1966, Hsiao led the Punto Art Movement alongside Italian artist Antonio Calderara, Japanese sculptor Kenjiro Azuma, and Li Yuan-Chia; based in Milan, they built bridges between Eastern and Western cultures and organised 13 exhibitions in just five years. They used still art to explore the constraints of infinity, expanded abstract art in both the East and the West, earning them a place in the history in the post-war art world.
While growing abstract art around the world, Hsiao remained grounded in his Eastern spiritual roots. Since the 1950s he studied Taoist philosophy and created his Tao series of works which is filled with Zen. From 1962, he studied Mandhala art from Tibetan Tantric Buddhism and Indian spiritualities which resulted in his Sun Series of works from 1963 to 1965, symbolising the vibration of the soul and the expansion of energy. From the 1960s onwards, Pop Art, Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism reigned supreme in the
West, but Hsiao did not join the bandwagon; instead he opened a new chapter of his life in New York and created the Hard Edge Series from 1966 to 1974, striving towards a meditative realm, using the paradigm of pure instincts in Oriental philosophies to tamper the intrusion of emotions into art. From this, one sees his conscious awareness of the need to create his own artistic language, on his path towards true mastery. Vibration in Blue & Red was finished in 1966, during his brief transition between the Sun Series and the Hard Edge Series, which explains its rarity on the market. The work features a retina seemingly formed in the style of a Mandahala, with colour choices that hint at Pop Art, the geometric composition of Minimalism, making it an encapsulation of Hsiao’s most iconic visual elements during the 1960s.
Amidst a stoic and turbulent sea of indigo, slashes of bright orange zigzag across the canvas in an explosive burst of energy that sears into viewers’ eyes. Nevertheless, closer inspection leads one to notice the rhythm of the zigzagging waves, as though a power flows steadily and ceaselessly from top to bottom, resulting in a unique sense of dynamism even in a work of still art. This aesthetic experience synergises with Hsiao’s understanding of the universe, and man’s quest to comprehend the boundaries of infinity in all of creation in our short time on Earth. Vibration in Blue & Red elevates the artist’s unbounded spirit, uses paint, canvas, points, lines, and planes to capture the grandeur of the land, and invite viewers to embark on a journey of reflection and meditation.
– Hsiao Chin
Vibration in Blue & Red was completed in 1966, at a turning point of Hsiao Chin’s artistic and personal journey – his Punto Art Movement had recently concluded, and Hsiao was about to move to New York – and the piece shows how the artist melded the East with the West, and used painting to explore the most primal forces of the universe.
Hsiao moved to Milan in 1959 and befriended artists such as Spazialismo founder Lucio Fontana, Zero Art Group master Enrico Castellani, Action Painter Franz Kline; he quickly immersed himself as part of Europe’s pioneering fine art circle, and found his own voice amidst the cacophony of creators, laying groundwork for his later work spearheading the Surya and SHAKTI movements around the world. Between 1961 and 1966, Hsiao led the Punto Art Movement alongside Italian artist Antonio Calderara, Japanese sculptor Kenjiro Azuma, and Li Yuan-Chia; based in Milan, they built bridges between Eastern and Western cultures and organised 13 exhibitions in just five years. They used still art to explore the constraints of infinity, expanded abstract art in both the East and the West, earning them a place in the history in the post-war art world.
While growing abstract art around the world, Hsiao remained grounded in his Eastern spiritual roots. Since the 1950s he studied Taoist philosophy and created his Tao series of works which is filled with Zen. From 1962, he studied Mandhala art from Tibetan Tantric Buddhism and Indian spiritualities which resulted in his Sun Series of works from 1963 to 1965, symbolising the vibration of the soul and the expansion of energy. From the 1960s onwards, Pop Art, Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism reigned supreme in the
West, but Hsiao did not join the bandwagon; instead he opened a new chapter of his life in New York and created the Hard Edge Series from 1966 to 1974, striving towards a meditative realm, using the paradigm of pure instincts in Oriental philosophies to tamper the intrusion of emotions into art. From this, one sees his conscious awareness of the need to create his own artistic language, on his path towards true mastery. Vibration in Blue & Red was finished in 1966, during his brief transition between the Sun Series and the Hard Edge Series, which explains its rarity on the market. The work features a retina seemingly formed in the style of a Mandahala, with colour choices that hint at Pop Art, the geometric composition of Minimalism, making it an encapsulation of Hsiao’s most iconic visual elements during the 1960s.
Amidst a stoic and turbulent sea of indigo, slashes of bright orange zigzag across the canvas in an explosive burst of energy that sears into viewers’ eyes. Nevertheless, closer inspection leads one to notice the rhythm of the zigzagging waves, as though a power flows steadily and ceaselessly from top to bottom, resulting in a unique sense of dynamism even in a work of still art. This aesthetic experience synergises with Hsiao’s understanding of the universe, and man’s quest to comprehend the boundaries of infinity in all of creation in our short time on Earth. Vibration in Blue & Red elevates the artist’s unbounded spirit, uses paint, canvas, points, lines, and planes to capture the grandeur of the land, and invite viewers to embark on a journey of reflection and meditation.