Dr. He Qi's Daniel in the Lion's Den 22" x 22" . Photo courtesy HeQiArt

Chinese artist Dr. He Qi is attaining world recognition for his paintings, which are almost exclusively depictions of biblical events. He is currently the artist-in-residence at Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California. Dr. He Qi began his art venture during China’s Cultural Revolution in which, as a teenager, he won a Chairman Mao portrait contest. He then studied at Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing Art Institute in China, and Hamburg Art Institute in Germany.

Dr. He Qi was the first among Mainland Chinese to receive a Ph.D. in Religious Art after the Cultural Revolution. His artwork has been displayed in museums, galleries, universities, and churches around the world including New York, San Francisco, Berkeley, Chicago, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Nanjing, London, Geneva, and Los Angeles. Additionally, Dr. He Qi has been invited as a visiting professor and artist-in-residence by universities and seminaries such as: Yale Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, New College and Regent’s Park College of Oxford (UK), Toronto University, Wheaton College, Luther Seminary, Theological Seminary in San Francisco, Purdue University, and, most recently, Claremont School of Theology.

His work at Fuller Seminary in Payton Hall depicts narratives from the Old Testament and New Testament Gospels. The vibrant colors in the paintings pull from Western influences such as Marc Chagall, Matisse, and Picasso, but are also distinctly Chinese in its pallet and style. Set within a Chinese context, the paintings blend traditional Chinese folk customs, colors, and style with Western influence. By depicting Christ and other biblical figures in folk Chinese clothing and scenery, Dr. He Qi’s desire is to “help change the ‘foreign image’ of Christianity in China by using artistic language, and at the same, to supplement Chinese art the way Buddhist art did in ancient times.”

Dr. He Qi will be in attendance at Fuller Seminary’s October 5 chapel service in which a reception for him will follow at 11:00 a.m. He will then deliver a short lecture in Payton Hall from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. on the history of Christian Art in China. This event is sponsored by Fuller Seminary’s chapel office, Fuller’s China Initiative, and the Brehm Center. The public is invited. Please contact Nate Risdon at [email protected] if you plan to attend.

Fuller Theological Seminary, 135 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena, (626) 584-5200 or visit http://fuller.edu/.