London based print artist Fandangoe Kid announces her latest public art installation The ‘Fandangoe SKIP’ in collaboration with SKIP Gallery, The Loss Project and Caukin Studio.

The candy-coloured, ice-cream-kiosk-in-a-skip will first appear in Greenwich Peninsula this July, situated in front of Now Gallery, and then Canary Wharf as part of Festival 14 later that month to host free mental health workshops and serve up free scoops of Fandangoe flavoured ice cream made by ‘A Portuguese Love Affair’. It will then make its way on to the Big Apple, following a commission by BBC World Service to document Fandangoe Kid’s work.

Taking all the hard work from the previous year’s Fandangoe Whip, which saw commissions by Tate, Canary Wharf Group, South London Gallery, and Design Museum to deliver ice cream and workshops on creativity as catharsis. Fandangoe SKIP moves into a bigger and more far-reaching collaboration with a fully integrated arts and mental health programme. All workshops will be accessible both in person and online, booked via a QR code affixed to the Fandangoe SKIP.

“The Fandangoe SKIP seeks to connect with audiences on many levels, offering ice cream as an ageless and classless platform for immediate engagement in a non-pressurised environment…This installation means a great deal to me, it’s something I have been working towards for most of my practice, knowing first-hand how important it is to have responsible outlets to nurture and maintain our individual and collective mental health…” The Fandangoe Kid

SKIP Gallery has a reputation for their punk-like spirit and has popped up in unexpected places through collaborations with major contemporary artists including the likes of Gavin Turk, Richard Woods and David Shrigley. In this new collaboration with Fandangoe Kid, they will unleash another eruption of art to delight and intrigue the public. Fandangoe Kid is a print artist who makes large-scale narrative driven pieces for the public realm. Her work seeks to smash taboos around mental health, grief, loss, trauma, and gender constructs. Besides making colour infused public art, the multidisciplinary artist also uses film, fashion, and workshops to explore universal human experiences and highlight the urgency of activism for a better and more sustainable future.

This stand-out kiosk will be made of sustainable materials in collaboration with CAUKIN Studio a social enterprise that creates impact through architecture. Combining Fandangoe’s signature visual style – graphic text and pattern executed in bold and pastel shades, to celebrate the whole rainbow spectrum of the human experience. Think swirling cones and bubble gum pinks, graphic text such as ‘Grief Wallops!’ in sunshine hues and colours.

Working and playing with the form and dimensions of the skip, CAUKIN inverts the design for the floating canopy, taking a visually heavyweight feature and remaking it with lightweight timber, allowing the addition of creative openings, fold-down hatches and doors. For the public workshops, they have designed seating for outside, focused around the centerstage – while, in a thoughtful and innovative design touch, for 1-2-1 sessions the entire structure can be folded down to create the desired level of privacy. The whole space manages to be both compassionate and fun-loving contained under a bright parasol shade.

“We’re super excited to be partnering with Fandangoe Kid and Skip Gallery on the Fandangoe Skip – an ice cream ”truck” for mental health. The art installation will bring a programme of mental health workshops and events alongside tasty scoops of ice cream! Housed in a skip or a dumpster, we love the idea of somewhere used to unload something more intangible such as our thoughts and feelings.” CAUKIN Studio

Fandangoe’s work is driven by her own story following the loss of family members in 2011. Her practice is inspired by the desire to create a platform for open dialogue around the still taboo subject of grief. Describing her family as a “melting pot of big characters” she has always been interested in “big visual storytelling”. She believes “everyone just wants to connect” and having received overwhelming feedback from the public, she wants the installation to provide a space for people to share their stories, and smash the stigmas associated with loss and grief.

The Loss Project is coordinating varied and free mental health workshops that carefully considers and explores the complexities of mental health, grief and loss as well as helping people to explore their experiences through shared connection and creativity.

This labour of love is about bringing mental health issues, specifically grief and loss to the public consciousness in a colourful creative way, and as such Fandangoe SKIP is looking for collaborators from public spaces, galleries or universities in NYC and California this Autumn to help develop an integrated mental health programme to reach audiences across the US, working with mental health wellness platform Strong 365.

“As well as being big admirers of Annie’s expansive and colourful approach to often challenging subjects, our latest venture, Fandango SKIP, which explores grief through the medium of ice cream is very close to our hearts. Catherine and I have both experienced the loss of our parents in recent years, and when Annie approached us with the idea, we were a big fat multicoloured YES.” SKIP Gallery

“Greenwich Peninsula has always been a place for community and creativity to come together, celebrating the power that art and design have in unifying us all. Offering a safe space for people to connect via shared experiences, the Fandangoe SKIP compliments what the Peninsula is all about. A thriving community with culture at its heart”. Greenwich Peninsula

“We’re delighted to welcome Fandangoe Kid back and welcome ‘Fandangoe Skip’ to bring its colourful and uplifting installation to Canary Wharf for all to enjoy. We love the idea that subjects such as mental health can be brought into the spoltlight through something fun and optimistic.” Lucie Moore, Associate Director for Arts + Events at Canary Wharf Group

“Beyond the installation this collaboration seeks to create impactful legacies for communities and individuals to really make a change to our mental health, not just for a few days, but to work towards changing the landscape…. It’s a collaboration of dreams and it truly underpins all we stand for…to bring joy even when experiencing grief and loss” The Loss Project