The Melheimian Sabbatiblog

He Qi and the Prophets

My friend He Qi (www.heqigallery.com) is back in China for the summer, and asked me for ideas for his next paintings. Here's what I suggested:

Dear He Qi,

I have an idea that I think think would be very popular and enjoyed by Christian Sunday School children, and also by the Jewish Museums and Galleries who enjoy your work. I think it would be wonderful to create a whole series of art based on the "Prophets of the Old Testament."

You already have paintings of Moses, Jonah, and Elijah. Maybe you could paint the rest of the famous prophets and someday have a whole series that could turn into a show. The four most important prophets that you have not painted yet are called the "Major Prophets". Their books are the largest prophet's books in the Bible, and their stories are very important to Christian educators and to Jewish scholars. It think it would be important if you could have a painting on each of them. I would suggest you consider painting:

1. DANIEL IN THE LION'S DEN (Daniel 6:16-22)

The Prophet Daniel is thrown into a cave filled with hungry lions by the king. God's angel comes and shuts the mouths of the lions to protect him. The next morning the king looks down from a hole in the ceiling of the cave and sees Daniel safe, protected by the angel from the hungry lions. Here are some ideas from Google.


2. EZEKIEL AND THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES (Ezekiel 37:1-14)

The Prophet Ezekiel has a vision of a great valley filled with bones. The wind from God sweeps over the valley and turns the bones into a great nation of people to serve the Lord. Here are some ideas from Google.

3. ISAIAH'S VISION OF GOD (Isaiah 6: 1-8)

The Prophet Isaiah has a vision of God sitting on a great throne. Angels with six wings each fly up and down, attending to God. Smoke fills the temple. Hot fire coals are sitting on the altar of God, and an angel takes coals from the fire and touches the lips of the Prophet Isaiah to make his mouth speak for God. Here are some ideas on Google.

4. JEREMIAH'S CALL (Jeremiah 1:1-13)

The prophet Jeremiah is called from the womb to be a prophet to the nations. When he grows to a teenager, he is called to start preaching. He says "I am only a boy! I do not know how to speak!" God says, "Do not say 'I am only a boy! I will be with you."

This is a very wonderful story for Sunday School teachers and children. God can use everyone, even the young! I could see a painting of God's hand coming down (verse 9) and touching the mouth of a baby still in the womb! Some other images/symbols in the painting could be the branch of an almond tree (verse  11) and a boiling pot on a fire (verse 13).

There are not a lot of famous images of this Bible story, but Chagal did one: Jeremiah.

Maybe your painting could be the most famous!

I hope you like these ideas. Let me know what you think.

Blessings,

Rich


We'll see if He Qi likes these ideas, and I'll post his first sketches here if he does so you can follow his progress.

He Qi and the Cardinal

I took my friend He Qi over to the Minneapolis Institute of Art yesterday to hear a lecture and meet Giovanni Cardinal Lajolo, the head of the Vatican Museums. He was in town for meetings with the MN/ND supporters of Vatican art restoration projects.

We're invited to a luncheon in the Cardinal's honor this morning. He Qi's great dream would be to have a show of his art at the Vatican.

It's a long-shot, but I'm hoping to help midwife it. Who knows? Gretsky said, "I missed 100% of the shots I didn't take."

Nothing More

A Poem Composed in an Ice Storm on Highway 169 at Midnight Last Night
(after I arrived at my cabin to find no electricity and drove out again to find a warm bed at the Patterson home in Mankato)

NOTHING MORE

there is nothing more
fabulous
frightening
free
than the second
you sense
what no others
can see

there is nothing more
marvelous
magic
and fun
than the moment
a million minds
merge
into one

there is nothing more
terrible
freeing
and true
than the instant
you know
exactly
exactly
exactly
what you
must do

nothing more

He Qi at Concordia Sem

Here's a little Christmas card hanging at the entrance of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Stop in and see it, and the largest collection of He Qi art ever assembled - 40 pieces - if you happen to be in town between now and January.

He Qi Inappropriate?

We received a call last week from a woman who thought the art of Dr. He Qi was inappropriate for 7th grade boys.

Any thoughts on that one? Comments? Agreements? Critiques?

Here's my take on why I chose the works of this quiet genius to be the center of our brand and first focus on all of our lessons... at all age levels.

First, a comment:

One can’t argue taste. One can't argue art. And one certainly can’t argue someone’s opinion or taste in art.

Second, art for art's sake is fine, but I choose to use art as a beginning point of a journey into the mind and an introduction to the learning process. Picasso said “Art is the lie that helps you see the truth.”

Art that is evocative, provocative, bright, multi-ethnic, story-based, vibrant and powerful will always have fans, and always have detractors. To me, the art is not the point of the art. What great art does is to lead the observer either privately or publicaly into a dialogue. Like a great song, a great poem, a great dance, or a great piece of theater, visual art attacks multiple areas of the brain and creates an array of electrical activity flashing about the mind. When used in education as a starting point, great art draw out comments, thoughts, impressions, emotions, and conversation around the theme. The art is not the point. The engagement of the whole mind with others' minds is the point. Using great art as a lead-in that gets kids (people) involved in the “what do you see” and “who are you in this painting” and “what do the painting and the Bible verse say to one another” - this turns the art into a true “educatio” (draw out) tool. Whether the great art is a great story, a great painting, a great poem, a great parable, it great art solicits a great engagement which the skillful teacher can then use to build the theme.

From my experience, the visual art of Dr. He Qi does this better than any Christian art in existence. It is iconic. It is vibrant. It is humorous. It had hidden symbols and meaning laced throughout. It is Picasso meets Matisse meets Chagal meets the East.

It is not simply good art. It is great art. It does all this and more.

To me, faith without art is an unfurnished mansion.

I want He Qi's art to lead kids to discuss, engage, learn, remember, and create their own art after seeing it.

It is a seed.

Rich

PS - How old do you have to be to appreciate great art? How much education do you need in order to be drawn into it and drawn out?

GodTube & He Qi

Here's a little something on GodTube you might enjoy.

In the beginning..

 

Love Song

Art Moves the Movements that Move the World

Here's a little piece I recently sent to the Mayor of New York, the Ambassador from China, and the heads of the national media and national churches.

 

Dear Friends, 

This Sunday I'd like you to meet a man who I believe he will become the Michaelangelo of the next millenium.  If art moves the movements that move the world, my friend may ultimately have more influence on the culture of China for the next 500 years than Chairman Mao.

I know this may seem like an impossible and outlandish request from the former "Outstanding Journalist" of the University of North Dakota class of 1977 (yeah, that's me), but every once in a while I find something so compelling that I've got to tell somebody.

Here's why:

If Kevin Kelly of Wired magazine is correct in Wired Magazine  http://churchrelevance.com/kevin-kelly-on-the-next-1000-years-of-christianity/, the center of the faith of two billion people will likely move to Asia over the next 500 years.

If that's the case, there is one humble genius of an artist who's struggle through the Cultural Revolution and evolution as an artist may well have more influence on the world since any artist in history.

I would like you to meet him.

   

I am throwing a little reception for Dr. He Qi of Nanjing (www.heqigallery.com) on Sunday, June 24, from 2 - 4 at the Museum of Biblical Art, 1865 West Broadway in New York.  Seven of his originals are on display at the Museum of Bible Art , 1865 W. Broadway, all summer, while his print show goes on display at beginning Thursday, June 28, at  St.  John the Divine - running through Labor Day.  

His "Look Toward the Heavens" show of 27 of brilliant works has been traveling the country for the last two years. Folks as far away as in Japan, Argentina, South Africa and Australia are begging him to come and show, paint, and lecture. He Qi was artist-in-residence at the Overseas Ministry Center at Yale in 2005, and this fall has been invited to do the same at Oxford in England , and to paint a mural in a new mission hours that the Archbishop of Cantebury will dedicate October 26.  He Qi was recently described in a book published at Yale as "Chagall meets Matisse meets Picasso meets the East." 

It would be our great honor to have you join us for the reception Sunday. If you're up for it, we're going out for dinner after that and you'd be welcome to that, too. He Qi just flew to the States from China and only will be in Manhattan for 24 hours - Sunday Morning through Monday morning.

I know your viewers would find his story of learning to paint during the Cultural Revolution (Chairman Mao by day, Raphael's Madonna by night) fascinating.  

I do.

I also know this is very short notice, but thank you much for your kind consideration. If you absolutely can't make it or send someone,  I could arrange a phone interview.

But you gotta ask yourself - if you had a chance to interview Michaelangelo at the moment his genius was about to be unleashed on world, would you do it or send someone else?

(-;

Rev. Rich Melheim

www.faithink.com 

(By the way, He Qi calls me his "free agent." I refuse to be paid for this. I find it an uttery joy and honor. He's a quiet, humble genius who will one day shape the world.)

New He Qi Sketch

Here's a new piece my friend He Qi just sketched for the ELCA's Global Mission Event logo for the new year.

Any comments before we send it off?

Torture

Art is the Lie

Art is the lie that helps you see the truth. - Picasso

I was mulling over the words "art" and "artificial" and "artifact" this morning while looking out my window at the 20 x 20 ft Christmas card I hung last week. Digging around online I found this:

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source

ar·ti·fi·cial   (är'tə-fĭsh'əl)  Pronunciation Key     

adj. 

1. 1. Made by humans; produced rather than natural.
   2. Brought about or caused by sociopolitical or other human-generated forces or influences: set up artificial barriers against women and minorities; an artificial economic boom.
2. Made in imitation of something natural; simulated: artificial teeth.
3. Not genuine or natural: an artificial smile.

Question for the day: Are you artificial?