NEW YORK, NY.- RYAN LEE has just opened Handmade Wallpapers, an online exhibition by Andrew Raftery. The exhibition revisits the artist’s 2016 solo show of the same title, which was the culmination of an eight-year project creating ceramics, paintings, and installation based on his annual garden in Providence, Rhode Island. This project continues Raftery’s exploration of his elaborate garden, which he designs, plants, and tends each year.




This past year Raftery moved to a new house and planted a garden that is the inspiration for this exhibition. The online format for the show provides an ideal platform for showcasing Raftery’s final works, preparatory sketches, and images of the garden itself all in one space. This marks the first time that Raftery’s preparatory sketches – some of which have been acquired by museums – are on view, and also reflects the first time viewers can see images of Raftery’s garden alongside his finished works.

Handmade Wallpapers includes engraved ceramic plates, a video installation display on hand-printed, letterpress wallpaper, and a series of prints featuring different elements of Raftery’s garden, captured throughout the year. Among the works on view are a video of Raftery’s hand designed wallpaper installed in his new house. Each of the four rooms in the upstairs of his home features a wallpaper that corresponds to the season, and the stairwell features a print custom designed for the house.

Raftery has long been interested in prints, particularly engravings, and the various ways we use them in our everyday lives: on wallpaper, clothing, and functional objects. Through his work, Raftery employs the centuries old techniques used in print making to explore contemporary subject matter.