Faux Faux (Lobby Life) brings four artificial ficus trees to the Tang’s atrium. These fake plants are evocative of the plant life that often populates airports, hotel lobbies, shopping malls, and other public spaces. A closer look, however, reveals that each leaf has been meticulously cut into a square shape. By modifying the leaves, Benson accentuates the artificiality of the trees; in so doing, she creates a more authentic experience of the man-made space. Benson’s use of artificial plants in her work spans over a decade in which she reflects upon human destruction of the natural world and how we represent nature within the built environment.
Jane Benson is a Brooklyn-based artist. Born in England, she received her B.F.A. from Edinburgh College of Art and her M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has had recent solo exhibitions at Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York City (2015); Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton (2016); and the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (2017). Her work has also been exhibited in national and international venues including MoMA PS1 Sculpture Center, New York City; Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Connecticut; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh.