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    “Ye Funa: Where are we from? Where are we going?” is the first exhibition to be unveiled at the  new  gallery  space  of  Contemporary by Angela Li, after  its  recent  move.  On  show  will  be  more  than  20  works  by  this  young  contemporary  Chinese  artist,  including  videos,  installations  and  photographic works. In  her  works,  Ye  Funa  turns  herself  into  a  “historical  curious  youth”  (in  the  words  of  famous Chinese contemporary artist Qiu Zhiji). She invites her friends and relatives, as well as the security guards  and  cleaning  ladies that she  knows,  to  dress  up  and  act  as  the  characters  in  the  propaganda-like front covers of the historical ethnic magazine The Nationalities Pictorial. Through the  deliberate  and  unnatural  stiffness  of  the  actors  and  the strange  atmospheres,  the  artist investigates  the  cliché  images  that  together  form  the  collective  memories  in  Chinese  history.  Ye  Funa   also   interviews   and   acts   as   her   own   parents   and   grandparents   and   turns   the   old   black-and-white  family  photographs  into  videos.  Through  the  study  of  her  own  family  history  and  these magazine covers, we see a post-80’s artist looking at her own “roots”, on both personal and social  levels.        


    As  a  second  generation  artist,  Ye  Funa’s  creativity  is  surprisingly  independent.  She  does  not  seem  to  carry  the  baggage  of  having  the  need  to  surpass  the  success  of  her  older  generation.  Having graduated from the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and then obtaining an MFA from London’s Central St Martin’s College of Art, she is  currently a full-time artist and also teaching in the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing. This background and her upbringing have has given Ye Funa the best training and unlimited creative freedom. As a post-80’s youth living in a contemporary  Chinese  society,  she  investigates  through  her  works  the  slowly  disappearing  values  of   the   family,   society   and   her   country,    under   the   constant   bombardment   of   the   media,   advertisements and the growing trend of globalisation.