UB Anderson Gallery to Present "Brain Wash," Video Installation by Pei-Yun Lee

BUFFALO, N.Y. – "Brain Wash," a video installation by Pei-Yun Lee, will open with a reception at theUB Anderson Gallery on April 8 from 6-8:30 pm. The installation will remain on view in the second floor gallery through May 9.

Last December, Lee who was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, and has been living in Buffalo since 2002, videotaped herself lying in the waters off Grand Island near Buffalo and in Northern Taiwan.

"I simply lay there and let the frigid waves brush against me," Lee says. "My hair would move with the rhythm of the current, and after five or six minutes, I would emerge from the water, just as my body was becoming still and numb. The choice to experience water during winter was painful but it left me with an everlasting impression."

"Brain Wash" documents these moments in the water and the Lee's search for balance between two cultural experiences. Audio accompanying the video is the artist speaking in both English and Chinese. Throughout the English segments, she lists the new things that she has learned while living in Buffalo. In contrast, the Chinese segments are a series of jokes.

Lee is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University at Buffalo, where she has been the recipient of a graduate teaching assistantship for the past two years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in photography from Shih Hsin University in Taipei. Her installations and performances have been shown at the UB Art Department Gallery; Hallwalls; Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei, and the Visual Space Gallery, Taipei. "Brain Wash" is her first solo installation in the United States.

UB Anderson Gallery, Center for Museum Studies, is located on Martha Jackson Place off Englewood and Kenmore avenues. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Call 716-829-3754 for more information.