Born in Yunnan, China, this exhibition features He Jia's works from 2007 - 2009.

Artists born post-1970, in their formative years, have gone through China's rapid-pace economic revolution of the last thirty years. During this time, China's social environment, living standards, and living style have improved by leaps and bounds. The period after the 1970s, especially after 1975, became the birth of the "New Age". Inevitably, these artists became the direct recipients of this new era. Their parents continued to instill in them an upbringing and education that was simple and traditional, but this also went hand in hand with society's vigorous changes. The opening up of China's markets, the buoyant economy, the news that was broadcast daily, and seeing endless new things and ideas emerge have ignited their imagination, and impressed upon them a myriad of stories. They are far luckier than those born in the 80s and 90s, for they have been part of China's revolutionary journey from the beginning, and have seen her emerge like a butterfly from a cocoon; Seeing the new China go through so many "shake-ups", what is now in front of them is a window with a clear and beautiful view.

In the eyes of his friends, He Jia is an exciting, real, natural, honest person. They even go so far as to say that he has an uncanny "Cartoon-Game" personality. Towards the things around him, he is sensitive and enthusiastic, as well as being simple, straightforward and easy-going. He projects all his curiosity into his brain, and relates them using his own interpretation, and they appear on his work as the grotesque, the gaudy and the kitschy, in a riot of colours. His works are highly exaggerated, everything provokes and is in your face - hamburgers, cars, beautiful women, zebras, generic buildings,  traditional flora, fresh fruit have been "polished" become multi-colored pills... he turns these everyday things into fabulous, lively objects of desire.

Like the Pop Art movement that emerged in the United States in the 1950s, American artists took contemporary society and culture as their inspiration and "material" for their work and brought contemporary art to unprecedented new heights. Likewise, He Jia's works are also full of the elements of China's rapid growth and facets of her consumer culture. They reflect upon the youths who have grown up in this era, and on society's values. On one hand, they are earnestly seizing and reflecting on the the phenomenon of this commercialization of society, but it has not been at the expense of personal expression, allowing their big-hearted personalities to shine through.

"Carnival" was chosen as the title of this exhibition partly in response to He Jia's rich and vivid insights into consumer culture, and partly in response to the artist's personal experiences that have been akin to a carnival...