The current exhibit at Towson University's Asian Arts Gallery is an East-meets-West experience. "Tradition and Modernity: Taiwan's Three Masters of Modern Art" showcases three artists in their 70s who were influenced by such American art movements as abstract expressionism, geometric abstraction and minimalism.

These artists achieve a balancing act between traditional Chinese artistic concerns and those abstraction-oriented American art trends. Liao Shiou-Ping, Lee Shi-Chi and Chu Wei-Bor have been balancing those concerns for a long time, because almost all of the exhibited work was done during the last few years.

Liao divides his compositions into geometrically precise sections that are covered with images so schematic that they're essentially hard-edged abstractions. A series of screenprints in a series titled "Life," for instance, features gridded arrangements of an abstracted man, woman, door, comb, chopsticks and other objects representing the artist's cultural background.

The near-exclusive use of red and black in Liao's work represents color choices that are familiar in Chinese art. Those sharply contrasted colors obviously also give the prints immediate graphic appeal.

Somewhat different in approach is Liao's etching and aquatint "Oriental Festival," which includes a section whose narrow bands of gradually changing colors are reminiscent of the optical effects achieved with so-called Op art during the 1960s.

Most of the exhibited artwork is relatively small in scale, making Liao's three-panel painting "Double Day" stand out all the more. Its compositional strategy is similar to what he does in his prints, but the use of acrylic paint and shimmering gold leaf makes a somewhat different impression. It's too bad this exhibit does not incorporate more large-scale works by the three artists.

Lee is mostly represented by a series of screenprints titled "Post-Orientation." One of the most interesting prints in this series has a red background that's marked with black squiggles that simultaneously evoke traditional Asian calligraphy and the gestural markings associated with American abstract expressionism in the 1950s.

Lee has another East-meets-West moment in "Rising Wind and Surging Water." Its composition relies on blocky sections of red and black, with much smaller sections of gold amounting to a decorative flourish. What's significant here is that the composition resembles the geometric abstraction found in American art during the '60s and '70s, and yet the artist uses lacquer rather than paint. Lacquer has been used by Chinese artists for centuries, and the resulting glossy surface is a literally reflective means of prompting you to contemplate that culturally rich material.

Chu has a minimalist belief in the inherent power of the artistic materials themselves. In "Micro-Deliberation-black," an all-black cotton background serves as the support for a braided black cotton ponytail, of sorts.

In "Purification -- Black and White Stick Series," a black linen background supports actual white cotton swabs arranged in an unevenly spaced vertical column. Although you know you're looking at cotton swabs, you may find yourself musing that their arrangement could be a spinal column or ladder.

Perhaps Chu's most striking work in the show is one of his simplest. "Deepening 40" only consists of tightly packed layers of rectangular white paper. The work has a totally flat surface except for a cut-out center that evokes the excavated layers of a quarry.

This excavation seems much deeper than it actually is, which again is the result of how he taps into your imagination. Incidentally, Chu's use of scissors to make his cut-out paper works recalls his family history of tailoring. Think of it as using old scissors to make new art.

"Tradition and Modernity: Taiwan's Three Masters of Modern Art" remains through Dec. 13 in Towson University's Asian Arts Gallery in its Center for the Arts at Osler and Cross Campus drives in Towson. Call 410-704-2807 or go to www.towson.edu/asianarts.

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