September 27, 2019, 7-10pm in Prospect Lefferts Garden
Open to the public for one evening, Terrible Gardens is a three-person installation that transforms the bedroom of Ryan Davis into a lush and densely packed gallery space. It began with a seed. After germinating and nurturing the pit of an avocado he had eaten, Davis was inspired to invite more plants into his Brooklyn bedroom, so much so that he reoriented his room to foster more intimacy with his green friends as they overtook his floor, windows, and shelves.
Davis then teamed up with human friends Bennett and Soliman to overtake his walls with a jubilantly layered hodgepodge of their work — a wink at Gloria Vanderbilt’s decadent Upper East Side apartment. This intermingling of paper, prints, textiles, paint, plants, and plastic is united by each artist’s approach to botanical imagery, not just for this installation but as a primary focus in their ongoing separate bodies of work. There is much gravitas concerning ongoing environmental peril. We hope that the joyful artifice of Terrible Gardens moves you to experience nature with a refreshed perspective while we are still fortunate enough to do so. Bennett, Davis, and Soliman all live and work in Brooklyn, NY.
Instagram: @sam_frannett, @ryandavistheartist, @terribleboogie
We are pleased to present an accompanying zine, also entitled Terrible Gardens. This features writings and illustrations by the following friends and family:
Abelard, Monica Albornoz, Olivia Bodor, Alison Hester, Tyler Hill, Will Kaplan, Katelyn Kenny, Bob Laine, Lola Lovenotes, Bailey Mariner, Leva Ragauskaite, Lena Schwartz, Olvia Tinnin, Hannah Yukon