Chunqing He

I was born on March 1, 1969 in Daoxian City, Hunan Province of China. For most time before I relocated to US in 2020, I lived in Hengyang City, Hunan Province of China.

"Meaning and truth" has always been the focus of my arts career.

Before 2008, I was deeply influenced by Western humanism and existentialism. I tried to explore the art and pursue the “meaning and truth” on the path of modernism and postmodernism. The artists who have influenced me the most are the abstract expressionism paintings of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso and Jackson Pollock.

The performance art of two contemporary Chinese artists - "Marrying a Mule" and "Eating a Dead Baby" completely subverted my artistic conception and values. I became aware that the “meaning and truth" of art has been completely distorted and turned into nonsense. It also led me to review and think about my artistic direction and meaning. For ten years, I didn't know what to draw or create, and I struggled in pain.

After I got baptized as a Christian in 2008, I finally realized that art would become meaningless and distorted when it is separate from God, as well as the life as an artist also become meaningless and distorted. I am so grateful that I found the answer...

I began to learn Chinese calligraphy from my father when I was in elementary school, and began to learn painting at the age of ten.
At the age of eighteen, I completed the basic training in oil painting, watercolor and sketching at an art vocational high school. At the same time, he also began to explore and study sculpture, philosophy, and art history.
From 1987 to 2008, I was engaged in human sculpture and experimented with various styles of painting, from figurative to abstract expressionism.
In 1989, I joined the army and soon left the army after the June 4th Tian'anmen Event, and became concerned about politics and anti-communism.
From 2004 to 2005, I worked as an art teacher in Daoxian Normal College, Hunan Province.
In 2008, I started to study the Bible and theology when struggling in the bottleneck of artworks.
In 2011, I went to the Hunan Bible College to study theology and became a full-time preacher after graduation in 2014.
In 2017, I resumed to create landscape sketches and scenario sketches integrating the elements of Christian faith.

Artworks "Passover" and "The Rural": The 33rd Annual Chelsea International Fine Art Collective Exhibition at Agora Gallery, New York.