He
Qi:China
Dr.
He Qi
17 Da Jian Ying Xiang
Nanjing, CHINA, 210029
please check He Qi's website:
www.heqiarts.com
Dr. He Qi is a professor at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary
and a tutor for master candidate students in the Philosophy Department
of Nanjing University. He is also a member of the China Art Association
and a council member of the Asian Christian Art Association. He
has been committed to the artistic creation of modern Chinese Christian
Art for more then twelve years. He hopes to help change the "foreign
image" of Christianity in China by using artistic language,
and at the same time, to supplement Chinese Art the way Buddhist
art did in ancient times. In his works, He Qi has blended together
Chinese folk customs and traditional Chinese painting techniques
with the western painting art of the Middle and Modern Ages, and
has created an artistic style of color-on-paper painting.
Mixing
Chinese folk art and modern art styles, He Qi uses a Chinese artistic
spirit to break the limits of time and space. He has incorporated
many elements and positions to create a series of paintings on Bible
stories with a special focus on the life of Jesus.
Mellow
and full, calm and straightforwardly sincere, his work incorporates
a riot of colors and rich compositions to portray images of Jesus
Christ as a messenger of peace and rejoicing.
He Qi
strongly expresses a type of aesthetics with a peaceful and stable
composition. As humans approach the end of the century with a jumble
of conflicting emotions, He Qi affirms, "We need to hear a
peaceful voice from the angel in heaven."
Today,
he is more able to creatively express the deeper feelings of his
inner soul. If art is to move people, it must first move the artist.
We need more scholars and artists like He Qi who are able to stir
the spirit and enhance the culture's strengths.
The progress
of his painting style is recognized by looking at his older and
more recent art works. When we compare the painting style of "Saul
and David" (which was published in the book "Bible
through Asian Eyes") and "Judgment
of Solomon" (which was published in the book "Art
Works of He Qi") with his recent art works, then we find they
really have different styles. Most of his older paintings were done
in the Zen Art style. His travel experiences, enabling him to observe
both Western and Chinese art styles, have moved him to blend together
Chinese folk art and modern art styles in his recent art works.
Following
are some comments of He Qi when we asked him about the different
styles in his old and new art works:
"Concerning
your question about my new painting style compared with my old
painting "Saul and
David," which was published in the book "Bible through
Asian Eyes," you are right, they are really different. My
old painting "Saul
and David" I painted in a kind of Chinese traditional
style--brush and ink with water, which we call "scholarly
painting," emphasizing only water and ink without color (also
called Zen Art). But for me - as a
Christian artist - starting from the story of Creation (Genesis),
when God said "Let there be light," he made a colorful
world. And as you know, because of my travelling experiences,
I have seen so many original works of impressionism, post-impressionism,
expressionism, cubism, even American abstract-expressionism.....,
I am interested in doing a kind of art style which is a mixture
of Chinese traditional style and Western modern style. In my point
of view, our Chinese traditional art not only includes the "Zen
painting" but should also include Chinese folk art and minority
national art--which are very colorful!
An
interview with He Qi by Ian Groves, the ANS Editor
Four
Historical Stages of the Indigenization of Chinese Christian Art,
by He Qi
The following are some
of He Qi's art works:
Clik here, if you would like to see his art
works in thumbnails
|