Artwork Description

Title: Body
Artist: Guo Wei
Date: n.d.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 15.7 x 11.8 in (40 x 30 cm)

Artwork Identification:
In this composition Title:d Body, Guo Wei depicts a nude female figure bent over a stark white armchair, set against a teal wall dotted with subtle grey marks. The figure’s posture is vulnerable yet resolute, confronting the viewer with both physical exposure and emotional detachment. The overall composition conveys a sense of stillness interrupted by quiet psychological dissonance.

Artistic Style and Influences:
Characteristic of Guo Wei's mature style, the painting employs flattened forms and muted tones, drawing from both figurative realism and expressionism. The sparse interior and gestural brushwork are hallmarks of his aesthetic language, allowing form and body to merge with space while emphasizing discomfort, ambiguity, and social commentary.

Historical Context:
Though undated, the work fits within Guo Wei’s early 2000s exploration of corporeality and identity, reflecting a broader cultural interrogation of the human condition in post-reform China. The solitary figure can be interpreted as a metaphor for the contemporary subject's estrangement in an era of rapid urbanization and ideological transition.

Provenance:
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

Condition and Conservation:
The painting is in very good condition. The canvas remains taut, and the pigment layer is stable, with no visible signs of cracking, fading, or restoration.

Artistic Significance:
This iteration of Body is a compelling example of Guo Wei’s capacity to juxtapose intimacy with disassociation. The subject's ambiguous expression and posture, rendered in simplified forms, evoke themes of exposure, self-consciousness, and the tension between internal and external realities. The work exemplifies Guo’s broader commentary on contemporary identity and the psychological weight of visibility in modern Chinese society.