# Hsieh Li-fa

Hsieh Li-fa (Chinese: 謝里法; pinyin: Xiè Lǐfǎ; Wade–Giles: Hsieh$^4$ Li$^3$-fa$^3$; born March 28, 1938), also known as Shaih Li-fa and Xie Lifa, is a Taiwanese artist, writer, and art historian.
Hsieh graduated from the National Taiwan Normal University's Department of Fine Arts. In 1964, Hsieh began to live in Paris, France, to study sculpture, and in 1968, he studied art theory and art history in New York City, United States.
Hsieh was a member of the Fifth Moon Group and crossed over to literature. He was also involved in the founding of groups such as the Taiwan Literature Research Association and the Taiwan Cultural Exchange Center. In 1993, he co-founded the Paris Cultural and Educational Foundation with Liao Shiou-ping and T. F. Chen and established the "Paris Prize" to help talented young artists study abroad.
Prints made by Hsieh Li-fa are held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Since 1996, he has lived in Beitun District of Taichung City. He has promoted environmentally friendly art in Changhua County, Taiwan. The installation artwork "Drifting Light Coordinate" is located in Fubao Ecological Park, Fuxing Township, Changhua County, made of 374 pieces of driftwood. He has previously taught at National Taiwan Normal University's postgraduate Department of Fine Arts.
He is the author of many books related to Taiwanese art, including A History of Art Movements in Taiwan During the Japanese Era and Talking About Art with A Li (also known as Art Letters: A Li). In 1981, A History of Art Movements in Taiwan During the Japanese Era won the second Wu Yung-fu Cultural Criticism Award. In addition, Hsieh also published A Journal of Unearthed Figures in Taiwan in the 1980s, describing Taiwan's predecessors such as Tan Teng-pho, poet Wang Baiyuan, musician Chiang Wen-yeh, etc.
In 2017, he was awarded the 37th National Cultural Award, and subsequently donated all the prize money to establish the Romain Rolland Million Novel Award.

## Life
### Childhood and schooling

Hsieh Li-fa was born on March 28, 1938, in Dadaocheng, Taipei City, Taiwan, which was the most prosperous place in Taiwan's history during the Japanese period. Hsieh grew up in such a prosperous business and cultural place at that time. The mixture of diverse information allowed Hsieh to accept various ideas and express them in his art and writing creations. Hsieh, who loved painting since childhood, wanted to be an art teacher in the future after graduating from high school, so he decided to apply for admission to the Taiwan Provincial Normal University's Art Department (now the Department of Fine Arts of National Taiwan Normal University). When Hsieh was a third-year student at Keelung Senior High School, he met Wang Chien-chu, a teacher at the high school who had recently graduated from the Normal University's Art Department. Hsieh received special instruction from Wang Chien-chu, and he was admitted to the Taiwan Provincial Normal University in 1955.
At that time, the president of the Normal University was Liu Chen, the dean of the Liberal Arts College was Liang Shih-chiu, and the head of the Art Department was Huang Chun-pi. Students who were admitted in the same year include Wu Wen-yao, Wang Hsiu-hsiung, Lee Yung-han, Su Shih-hsiung, Ho Ching-yin, Chen Ruei-kang, Liang Shiow-chung, Li Kuen-pei, Liao Shiou-ping, Chang Kuang-yuan, Wang Chia-cheng, Chiang Chien-fei, Fu Shen, Fu You-wu, Lou Wen, and others. At least 15 of the 38 students in the class will later become professors at the college. They have performed extremely well in different fields and are known as the "General Officer Class" in Taiwan's art circles. In 1959, Hsieh graduated from Normal University, and he and Lee Yung-han became the graduates selected to join the "Fifth Moon Group".
Hsieh was influenced by his teacher and began to plan his way abroad after graduation, heading to Paris, France.

### Go to Paris (1964–1968)

When Hsieh first arrived in Paris, he first entered the sculpture studio of the Beaux-Arts de Paris and studied sculpting with Mr. Cordurier. In addition to creating sculptures in the academy, Hsieh was also guided and inspired by Hsiung Ping-ming, who instilled in Hsieh the importance of "philosophy" in artistic creation. While in Paris, Hsieh was inspired by the Parisian habit of visiting cafes. By observing people on the street or in cafes, he used simple lines to outline the interaction of the crowds. When he returned home, he selected a few deformed paintings and turned them into an oil painting called "Paris". "Characters" series. In Paris, Hsieh also extended the series "The Man Who Opened the Door" to depict the alienation of Parisian people from the world.
At that time, Hsieh Li-fa, Liao Shiou-ping, and T. F. Chen were known as the "Three Musketeers of Paris".
While studying sculpture at the college, Hsieh also started to get into printmaking through teacher Jean Delpech (1916–1988) in the evening class, beginning a fruitful "ten years of printmaking" in his creative process. While in Paris, as an Oriental living in the Western world, Hsieh gained insight into the alienation from urban life and created the "Glass Box and Baby Girl" series to express himself and modern people's understanding and feelings of life. Most of this series is created with oil paintings, and sometimes acrylic mixed with oil paint is used. I have also tried to continue this series with zinc prints and silk prints.
During the May 68 in France, Paris bore the brunt. At that time, many Taiwanese students left Paris. Hsieh also temporarily left for New York. However, he did not return to Paris and stayed in New York for 20 years before returning to Taiwan.

### New York period (1968–1988)

Hsieh arrived in New York, and Hsieh also suffered a new impact on the new environment. While in New York, Hsieh applied through the recommendation of the Art Association, and in 1969 moved to the Westbeth Artists Community located in the West Village on the banks of the Hudson River in New York. Here Hsieh Li-fa came into contact with artists from different creative fields around the world and also initiated a printmaking association with a Yugoslav painter. Hsieh also became the technical director of this printmaking studio. The anti-war movement in the United States at that time also had an impact on Hsieh and was also connected to Taiwan's situation at the time. The central content of his creation gradually centered on the discussion of political issues, resulting in the "War and Peace" series.
In the United States from the 1960s to the 1970s, many emerging art trends also emerged, such as pop art, op art, hard-edge painting, minimalism, etc., all of which used bright colors and evenly applied color blocks to perform abstract expressions. Hsieh Li-fa also used this trend to create the "Pure Shape" series combined with prints.
In the 1970s, the trend of hyperrealism also emerged in the United States. Hsieh Li-fa, who also had a strong interest in photography, was also influenced by hyperrealism and created the "New York Life" series of photo-serigraphy prints that mainly shot New York street scenes.
In the United States, Hsieh Li-fa also met his university teacher Ma Pai-shui in 1970 and presented his printmaking work "Composition" to the teacher. After Ma returned to Taiwan, he applied for this work to participate in the National Art Exhibition on his behalf, and the work won the first prize in that session. Winning first place in the printmaking department of the exhibition also made Hsieh Li-fa famous in the Taiwanese art scene. In 1971, Hsieh Li-fa's works were exhibited at the National Museum of History and the Taiwan Provincial Taichung Library and gradually enjoyed a certain degree of popularity in the country.
While in New York, Hsieh Li-fa's works were also selected for various awards at home and abroad.
These award-winning experiences at home and abroad also caused various rumors in the Taiwanese art circle about Hsieh, who was not in Taiwan. So Hsieh Li-fa wrote the article "Return and Exile", which introduced himself to the country for the first time and started his opportunity to write articles.

### The beginning of art criticism

Hsieh first wrote two articles introducing Van Gogh and Cézanne in Lion Art. Later, he was appreciated by the editor-in-chief at the time, Ho Cheng-kuang, and continued to publish articles in Lion Art. Hsieh also became a frequent guest in the supplement of the China Times at that time. During this period, Hsieh also wrote articles for Lion Art, the China Times, and United Daily News, becoming almost a full-time art critic.
In 1975, Hsieh opened the column "Talking to Ah Li about Art in Letters" in Lion Art. Through the letters written by "Master" to the girl "A Li", Hsieh introduced art to young students in approachable terms. to gain praise. The column articles will also be collected and published in a book in the future.
After that, Hsieh also had the idea of writing the history of Taiwan's art. In 1975, the magazine "Artist" was launched. From the first issue, Hsieh's column on writing the history of Taiwan's art began to be serialized. With the help of magazines, we launched a life survey of senior painters. After the serialization, we also received a lot of feedback and suggestions. Finally, in 1978, the Artist Publishing House assembled the serialized articles and published Taiwan's first art history book "Japanese Paintings". According to the History of the Taiwan Art Movement of the Times.
Later, Lion Art also planned a series of special editions on Taiwanese artists, with Hsieh responsible for half of the articles. In addition to the artists featured in this special series, it also includes several important literary and artistic figures, describing Taiwan's senior painters such as Tan Teng-pho, poet Wang Baiyuan, musician Chiang Wen-yeh, etc. This part of the article was first published in Artist magazine and then published by Avant-Garde Publishing House under the title A Journal of Unearthed Figures in Taiwan.

### Return to Taiwan (1988–present)

Hsieh Li-fa returned to Taiwan for the first time in 1988 and returned to China the following year to hold a personal exhibition. He returned to the United States and painted a series of works with the theme of "A Tree on the Mountain." The theme returns to a very simple idea, which is a tree on a mountain, but uses different media to create, and also invites many artists to create separately. The method of appropriating objects has also become a form of creation. For what is an exhibition? What does it mean to be a curator asks questions.
Hsieh Li-fa did not want the historical chapter of Taiwanese art to exist only in the corridors of art museums. After returning to China, in addition to continuing to engage in artistic creation, he also devoted himself to the field of literature. He wrote the history of Taiwan's art movement during the Japanese era, which was later extended to his first novel, Purple Dadaocheng, which was also Taiwan's first art novel. In 2016, this work was remade into a TV series of the same name.
Hsieh Li-fa, who returned to Taiwan, continued to invest in the improvement of Taiwan's art environment and activities in Taiwan's art history, but at the same time he did not forget to create art, such as "The Shape of a Cow", the "Taipei" series, and "Gifts to Saints" series, "Civilization Born from Eggs" series, "Garbage Aesthetics", "Dancing with the Devil" series, "Drifting Light Coordinates", etc.
Hsieh Li-fa's creations are in various forms, combined with curatorial concepts, and he has also dabbled in "land art". Take "Drifting Light Coordinates" in 2004 as an example. The materials used are driftwood and a reflector. The driftwood is cut into a bevel and a reflector is attached to the top. It can have various appearances as the light changes. Since Fubao's outlet is located at Below the aircraft flight path, this artistic creation is called a work that can be seen from an airplane.
Hsieh Li-fa also likes to draw cows. For Hsieh Li-fa, cows symbolize return and the feeling and affection for the soil of his hometown in Taiwan. 2021 coincides with the Year of the Ox. The Juan I-jong Taiwan Story Museum has planned a special exhibition for the Year of the Ox. It invites Mr. Hsieh Li-fa, an important Taiwanese artist and art historian who is born in the year of the Ox and loves to draw cows, to exhibit a variety of wonderful and diverse ox painting outputs, paired with Juan in the 1980s, Juan I-jong photographed various forms of cattle in various places in Taiwan, as well as photo records of the Beigang Cow Market, which was once prosperous but is now invisible, as well as the "Five Cows Picture" painted by Han Huang, a painter of the Tang Dynasty 1,200 years ago.The output product is the earliest extant paper and silk painting with cattle as the theme, which is of great significance.