Nan Qi (artist)
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Nan Qi (Nan Xi 南溪) | |
|---|---|
 Nan Qi, 2016 | |
| Born | July 25, 1960 Yongkang, Zhejiang, China |
| Education | People's Liberation Army Academy of Art |
| Known for | Painting, drawing |
| Movement | Contemporary Art |
Nan Qi or Nan Xi (Chinese: 南溪; born July 25, 1960) is a Chinese artist based in Beijing. He is best known for his "halo dot" paintings which combine traditional Chinese ink painting methodology with modern technology, creating a "Ben-Day" dot effect.
Nan Qi was born to a peasant family in Yongkang, Zhejiang, China in 1960.[1] Having spent his childhood during the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution, Nan experienced extreme poverty as a child and joined the People’s Liberation Army at the age of 18. He graduated from the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Art in 1986, having specialised in traditional Chinese landscape ink painting.[1]
Nan is a contemporary Chinese ink painter depicting a variety of themes, ranging from the human form to landscapes and abstract concentric ink dots, using Chinese in and xuan rice paper. During his training as a Chinese ink painter, Nan specialised in classical landscapes inspired by Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasty artists.[2] Early experimentation with different brush strokes and techniques, varying the dilution of ink and wash, resulted in the distinctive ink “dabs” produced in his early works. During the mid-to-late 1990s, Nan began designing and printing the catalogues for his own exhibitions, and was inspired by the dot matrices used in printing. This gave rise to a progression from ink “dabs” to more and more dot-like brush strokes, culminating in his development of his signature “halo dot” brush stroke in 2004. At this point, the themes and content of Nan’s work were becoming solidly contemporary and modern, moving away from landscapes. Over the next ten years, Nan developed a completely unique repertoire of brush strokes and ink painting techniques, including the “halo dot”, the “Nan Qi Way” for controlling ink flow into highly absorbent rice paper, and the “3D ink” technique, which allows him to create three-dimensional optical illusions by hand.[1][2]
Nan has two daughters with his former wife Susie, an English lecturer. He currently lives and works in Song Zhuang, an artist's community in Beijing, China.[1]
