When art becomes the measure of an era’s progress and transformation, a number of issues are invariably left ignored. Artists merely form the cultural landscape of a given era. During the twentieth century, Chinese art was predominantly occupied with realism, an enlightening trait bringing the freshness of an artist’s individual life to the viewer. Today art has entered a state of pluralism. Its development and evolution follow multiple paths and take on a multitude of radical forms. While innovations in painting and other art fields continue to proliferate, their traditional relationships are simultaneously becoming intermingled and more complex. In the development of a critical response to the current cultural dilemma, painters must use the uniqueness of the medium to confront possible reiterations of previous art movements. In the context of contemporaneity, these issues are tightly bound with sociological and philosophical conceptions of “self.”

As part of distinct nucleus of contemporary painters in China, Qin Qi has a unique character of his own. We find in his previous self-portraits considerably solid and unrestrained brushworks. His thick coloring is markedly different from conventional palettes, and packed compositions connect him with impressionism and post-impressionism. In his recent works, however, we find a combination of cubism and symbolism intended to liberate him from the instantaneity and limitation inherent in his practice. In this case the sense of life that comes along with his readiness for and embrace of material and instinct can be sourced from his personal experience and not an attitude of criticism.

The task of artists is one of continuous self-discovery and improvement, a constant search for independent forms of self-expression. An artist must give the world a representation of his real self, rather than eagerly creating superficial works. Qin’s “old-styled” new works are actually a good case in point. This dialogue between artists and scholars in philosophy, culture studies, and art criticism will become a culturally meaningful discussion covering a variety of topics that include Qin’s understanding of art forms, both old and new, the border of the self in art production, and an artist’s communication and interaction with others.

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