Wang Jianwei is a pioneering figure in Chinese contemporary art. Since the 1990s, his practice has explored how interdisciplinary knowledge, spanning philosophy, sociology, cultural studies, and anthropology, informs and expands the boundaries of art. Adopting a cross-disciplinary approach, Wang works across film, theater, multimedia, installation, painting, and text to develop new artistic languages. He studied painting at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou), graduating in 1987. Departing from academic realism, Wang began experimenting with multimedia installation as a means of engaging complex ideas and forms.
In 1997, he became the first Chinese artist to participate in Documenta (Kassel, Germany) with his documentary film Production. Since 2000, he has created elaborate theater productions and multimedia installations and developed a distinctive painting style rooted in stills taken from his quasi-documentary videos. Key works include Paravent (2000), a theater performance and video presented at Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels and the Brighton Fringe; the multimedia play Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2010), staged in Beijing, Zurich, Geneva, and Basel; Yellow Signal at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (2011); and the solo exhibition Time Temple at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (2014).
Wang’s work has been exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; the Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai; the Today Art Museum, Beijing; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Hayward Gallery, London; and the Centre Georges Pompidou, France. He was invited to participate in the 25th São Paulo Biennale (2002) and represented China in the 50th Venice Biennale (2003). Read more 
