'Pest Control sets out to reflect the loneliness and contradictions that make up the common backdrop to our times.' —Tania Franco KleinMexican artist Tania Franco Klein’s (b. 1990) enticingly enigmatic series Pest Control, created between 2015-16, was inspired by the concept of the ‘non-place’ that French anthropologist Marc Augé defined in the 1990s. Here, the vacant train car, dramatically draped in light and shadow, and the partially opened curtains, revealing the desolate landscape beyond, together emphasise the undefined and transitory nature of the setting, making it the quintessential ‘non-place’. The artist also uses her fascination with colour – contrasting the vivid green of the sunlit curtain against the ochre-coloured field – to drive the viewer’s experience. ‘The colour, the lighting and the feeling of loneliness create a nostalgic mood,’ she notes. ‘I always concentrate on the emotional part of the image.’ With her sleek yet offbeat style, Franco Klein constructs ambiguous tableaux that provide no fixed or clear meaning as seen in the present work, transporting us to another place and time. Living between Mexico City, California and London, Franco Klein has received numerous awards, including the Photo London Artproof Schliemann Award in 2018 and the LensCulture Visual Storytelling Award in 2019.
