Working across photography, writing, performance, and moving images, Val Lee explores the psychological impacts of systemic control and political violence, often foregrounding affective states of isolation and loneliness that such conditions produce. Lee creates scenarios that are intentionally disorienting – devoid of clear markers of time or place – leaving the viewer in a state of uncertainty, opening space for reflection and projection.

This exhibition at London’s Hayward Gallery brings together three recent works by Lee. In Valley in the Minibus and Night Valley Cruising (both 2025), the artist engages with the idea of the ‘non-place’ as theorised by the French anthropologist Marc Augé. These are generic, often transitory spaces – like airports or shopping centres – that people pass through without forming lasting connections. Featuring masked figures, both artworks reconfigure the non-place from a site of anonymity into a space of potential congregation and quiet introspection. Both works speak to the artist’s interest in creating connections through private experiences, which are conversely shared collectively.

Presented as a slide projection, The Sorrowful Football Team (2025) reflects on Taiwan’s White Terror (1947–1987), a period of martial law under authoritarian rule. The work chronicles a fictional blind football team whose constrained movements – governed by blindfolds, strict rules, and game tactics – become a metaphor for surveillance, control, and collective resistance. Through highlighting the players’ sensory limitations and shared struggle, Lee also evokes the hope for freedom and reconciliation after systemic oppression.