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José Luis Liard (born in Montevideo, September 10th, 1945): artist, mural painter, illustrator, designer; jazz- and bossa nova-musician.



Formal training in Montevideo, Uruguay, with an international career including monumental mural paintings in Sweden; design assignments at theatres and operas, and sculptures in public spaces, for instance in Buenos Aires, where he also studied for professors of the S.O.D.R.E Symphony Orchestra.



With classical study degrees in clarinet and saxophone, José Liard specialized in jazz, bebop, swing, bossa nova inspired by the classical sound of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and other Latin American music genres. He has performed worldwide in numerous orchestras, for instance Montevideo Swing, broadcasted on Channel 4, Uruguay; Batuque do Samba, Gospel Stompers, Liard Quartet and Liard/Schyman, the later a most accomplished swedish constellation, on special occasions performing with the Swedish Feminist Party leader and candidate for the European Parliament, Gudrun Schyman.



As an artist, José Liard has made several monumental mural paintings, for instance the biggest ever made in Sweden - 400 square metres - Picturing Trelleborg (1981), which in its forceful energy captures the industrial and machine-like air of the big seaside working harbour in a playful expressionist fashion. (Facing the harbour and boardwalk, Algatan, Trelleborg).



Liards œvre includes numerous group and single exhibitions, for instance at Liljevalchs Konsthall in Stockholm and at the City Museum of Stockholm. He uses a multitude of techniques, like acrylic paint on canvas, ink drawing, collage, and computer graphics. Among his assignments as an illustrator and caricaturist are the Argentinian journal Panorama, Swedish journal Kommentar, and several book illustrations, for instance short stories by the world-famous swedish novelist August Strindberg: Distress at Sea (orig. title: Sjönöd. Nordan, Stockholm 1985). He is currently (2009) illustrating a book conveying cultural aspects of psychoanalysis, connecting the work of for example author Franz Kafka with the theories of Sigmund Freud.



José Liard has been acknowledged in the Swedish Television Cultural News for his pedagogical work engaging young people and graffiti artists in the multi-cultural communities of Malmö, the former industrial centre of southern Sweden. Together with the youngsters he has created mural paintings on schools, successfully showing a creative alternative and enhancing pride and respect in a socially complex and troubled environment.

--Moa1 (talk) 19:20, 28 July 2009 (UTC)Monica Anjefelt Journalist and art historian