Qui was born in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province. He is a graduate of the Printmaking Department of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. He is now a professional artist. He lives and works in Beijing. In the early 90s, he became well known among the Chinese contemporary artists with his large-scaled installation work Giant Glass…On The New Life. In the meantime, his other work A One-thousand-time Copy of Lantingxu has, in the later years, become the masterpiece on the conversation between performance art and the calligraphy tradition. Since then, he has turned into photography and video as the main medium of his work. He was one of the first few artists who explore in the new area of conceptual photography. His works cover mediums such as painting, photography, installation, video and performance art; his topic reaches to subjects such as time and space, soul and flesh, life and death, and authority. His works have been widely exhibited and collected in the world. He is also an influential theory writer and curator.