Artwork Description

Title: Messager No. 7
Artist: Wang Jianwei
Date: 2015
Medium: Oil on canvas (triptych)
Dimensions: Each panel: 78.7 x 57.9 in (200 x 147 cm)
Overall Dimensions: 78.7 x 173.1 in (200 x 439.5 cm)

Artwork Identification
Messager No. 7 is an expansive triptych oil painting by Wang Jianwei, one of China’s foremost conceptual artists. Comprising three vertically aligned panels, each measuring 200 x 147 cm, the total composition spans an imposing 4.4 meters in width. This large-format canvas merges expressive brushwork with Wang's cerebral inquiry into the nature of perception, communication, and social reality. The Title: suggests transmission—perhaps of information, memory, or ideology—resonating with Wang’s wider artistic investigations into the structures and fragility of modern knowledge.

Artistic Style and Influences
Although primarily recognized for his groundbreaking work in installation, performance, and multimedia, Wang Jianwei’s painterly practice is no less rigorous. Messager No. 7 echoes the analytical structure of his installations, with an approach to the canvas that is simultaneously gestural and theoretical. The surface reveals Wang’s unique visual vocabulary—part figuration, part abstraction—suggesting a fragmented narrative or encoded message. One can sense echoes of German Neo-Expressionism and post-Conceptual modes, filtered through the lens of Chinese social critique. His use of space, layering, and disjuncture draws parallels to the nonlinear logic of experimental theater and video, both of which are central to Wang’s broader body of work.

Historical Context
Created in the post-2000 period when Wang Jianwei was increasingly blending time-based and static media, Messager No. 7 reflects a pivotal stage in his trajectory. By this time, Wang had already developed a reputation for dissecting the tension between individual agency and collective systems—political, informational, and temporal. The work belongs to a continuum of projects examining the dissonance between lived experience and institutional narratives, a concern deeply rooted in the artist’s formative exposure to the Cultural Revolution and his engagement with Marxist and post-structuralist thought.

Provenance and Authenticity
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

Condition and Conservation
This triptych is in excellent condition except for one abrasion mark on the upper margin of the left panel. The canvases are structurally stable and unlined, with no visible craquelure or pigment instability.

Artistic Significance
Messager No. 7 occupies an important place in Wang Jianwei’s ongoing exploration of “grey systems”—where outcomes are indeterminate and meaning is relational. As both painter and theorist, Wang brings a rare intellectual density to the act of painting. The work’s commanding presence and conceptual ambition underscore his stature as one of China’s most critically engaged contemporary artists. As such, Messager No. 7 is a compelling acquisition for collectors seeking a work that bridges visual force, philosophical inquiry, and international art historical relevance.