Exhibition displays 40 years of works by famed cartoonist Loic Hsiao

Exhibition displays 40 years of works by famed cartoonist Loic Hsiao

2025-01-03

The late Taiwanese cartoonist Loïc Hsiao was certainly gifted: he was also a professor, playwright, theater director and TV host. Throughout his 40-year career as a cartoonist, he gave most of his artistic attention to drawing lines. In his later years he felt the impact of the digital age and created a unique technique of drawing on an electronic tablet using his finger with flourishes inspired by Chinese martial art aesthetics. The Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art is holding an exhibition to commemorate Hsiao. FTV reporter Stephany Yang takes us in for a look!

This exhibition is divided into three sections that include manuscripts and the published versions of Loïc Hsiao’s early iconic comic works.

The second part of the exhibition explores how Hsiao’s works evolved over time. It also examines the way he integrated traditional calligraphy into his comics. Hsiao’s more recent works starting in 2017 were created using his unique “Sword Finger Art Style.” Instead of drawing using a pen, he drew on an electronic tablet using his fingers in a way that combined Chinese martial arts aesthetics and Zen philosophy.

Huang Chih-wei
Curator
The “Sword Finger Art Style” is created on a tablet using fingers like a sword. The lines are drawn as if you are practicing tai chi. They are cartoon character lines. You can see that his work looks like it is written in cursive script. This exhibition uses the theme of a finger sword dance to present Hsiao’s series of works from 2017, as well as his reinterpretation of past classic works such as "The Little Hero of Holland." He uses different brushwork techniques - from the brushstrokes of early comics to the different presentations of the “Sword Finger Art Style.” There are also three-dimensional works that allow the audience to enter the world of comics.

Hsiao was a multidisciplinary creative known for being a famed cartoonist, professor, playwright, theater director and TV host. After becoming a comic artist, he devoted his time to perfecting the single-panel comic format. After being in his career for 30 years, due to the conflict between digital technology and traditional art, he decided to draw on an electronic tablet using his fingers instead of drawing with his nib pen. He was awarded the 2020 Golden Comic Awards Special Contribution Award and has sold over 200 million comic books during his career. His son spent a lot of time engaged in creative pursuits with his late father and was greatly inspired by his late father’s persistence.

Stanley Hsiao
Loïc Hsiao’s Son
I probably started working for him when I was in college. For a series of works about Marilyn Monroe, he told me that he did not refer to her pictures for inspiration. He created them using his imagination. He said that it took him hundreds of attempts to complete this painting. When he finished the painting, he compared it with the picture. Even though many details were not the same, the audience would know what the picture is about. He thinks that is what makes this work successful.

Hsiao’s exhibition will be held at the Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art until Feb. 16.

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蕭言中創作40周年經典作品展台北當代藝術館展出

2025-01-03

已故台灣漫畫家蕭言中，身兼舞台劇導演、演員、歌唱家、主持人，有「漫畫才子」的美稱，2017年，蕭言中創立「指劍畫派」，迎來創作生涯的重要轉折，他改用平板以手指創作，將傳統書法的精氣神與數位技術結合。台北當代藝術館推出「指劍之舞─蕭言中創作40周年經典作品展」，一起來看看。

展覽分為三個部分，包括蕭言中早期著名漫畫作品的手稿和出版品。

其中一個展間探討蕭言中的作品，如何隨著時間演變，也探討他將傳統書法融入漫畫的方式。2017年開始，蕭言中用獨特的「指劍畫派」創作，捨棄鋼筆，取而代之的是用手指在平板上作畫，創作方式結合中國武術美學和禪宗哲學。

[[策展人黃志偉]]
"「指劍之舞」就是用手指頭當成一把劍，在平板上來創作，然後這個線條像是在練太極一樣，畫出了漫畫的人物線條，大家可以看到他的表現，看起來是草書書寫的過程。這次的展覽以「指劍之舞」為主題，來呈現蕭言中從2017年帶出的系列作品，也有他重新詮釋過去經典作品，像是《堵住水壩的少年》，他用不同的筆法，從早期的漫畫筆法，到指劍筆法的不同呈現，也有立體的作品，讓觀眾走進漫畫的世界裡"

蕭言中涉足各種領域，包含漫畫家、教授、劇作家、戲劇導演和電視主持人等，從早期的單幅漫畫到近年開創的「指劍畫派」，從業生涯中，留下不少膾炙人口的作品。2020年，蕭言中獲頒金漫獎特別貢獻獎，生涯漫畫銷售量超過2億冊。始終堅持對漫畫的赤誠，也影響著兒子蕭邵陽。

[[蕭言中兒子蕭邵陽]]
"我大概也是從大學的時候開始幫他工作，瑪麗蓮夢露的系列作品，他就是跟我說，他當初沒有參照文件或是圖片，就是依靠他心中所想的創作，他說他試了幾百次才完成這幅畫，完成那幅畫的時候他對照圖片，即便很多細節不一樣，但是觀眾一看就會知道，他覺得這個是成功的"

蕭言中回顧展將在台北當代藝術館展出至2月16日。

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