Linden Gallery: He Qi

An entire morning of watching 40 painters plying their trade was certainly not sufficient for this peninsula. There were at least another half-a-dozen galleries hosting a variety of events to choose from. Over the past several summers I have admired the work of a contemporary Chinese Christian artist. Imagine how thrilled I was to see that he was making a pilgrimage to the Linden Gallery, where I had discovered his work a few summers ago.

We spoke for quite a little while. He has been in this country for the last four years. Technically he is Dr. Qi (pronounced 'chee') and had been a professor at a Chinese seminary for years prior to his arrival here. His work is glorious in person. This photo barely begins to capture the brilliance of the colors in his compositions. He works in gauche paints that he discovered in his travels thru Japan. This piece is entitled, "The Good Shephard." The gallery owner could see my enthusiasm and showed me his limited edition prints, glicees and poster collection. I was thrilled to find out that his posters were within my budget. I am now the owner of two of his bright poster-sized editions. "Looking Toward Heaven" & "Discipleship" were my final choices. It was an agonizing decision. He was kind enough to sign his work for me. His english was amazingly clear..... which was a good thing, since my chinese is non-existant. Our conversation went thru the influences on his work: cubism being one favorite of his, as well as the Chinese Opera and the folk art from those costumes. His paintings cover his favorite Bible stories -- from both the New and Old Testaments.

What a fantastic opportunity to meet a genius. Brilliant. Bravo. He has had exhibits around the globe & has a featured, ENORMOUS piece @ the Lutheran World Federation Building.