Pip & Pop at Kew Gardens

Do not adjust your eyeballs.

Kew Gardens has swapped the greenery for – well, pretty much every other colour, with a psychedelic, sugar-dusted, rainbow-hued installation by Pip & Pop.

That may sound like the breakout group formed by some of the Rice Krispies elves, but it’s actually one person: award-winning Aussie artist Tanya Schultz. She’s known for creating giant, walk-through artworks using all kinds of crafty materials, including bits and bobs that she’s picked up on her travels (presumably to places like the Candy Crush land).

Her installations are huge, colour-saturated landscapes of sugar mountains, kaleidoscopic pools, glitter, beads, bubbles and pompoms. You half expect to see a unicorn gallivanting around in there somewhere. And her first London exhibition is now on at Kew for just under a year, closing in March 2023.

It may seem an unusual venue choice, considering Kew’s all about plants, greenery and nature, but the exhibition’s part of their summer programme ‘Food Forever’. According to a recent report by Kew scientists, 2 in 5 plants around the world are currently threatened with extinction – which is kind of big deal when you realise that literally everything we eat depends on plants. So they’re hoping to draw attention to the crisis with a series of events including film screenings, talks, and an outdoor interactive art trail, as well as Pip & Pop’s multicoloured ‘fantasy food landscape.’ Beneath all the eye-meltingly colourful appeal, it’s designed to get us to think about our own consumption and the way we interact with our planet, as well as presenting an optimistic outlook for the future.

Turns out, it’s not just orange.

NOTE: Pip & Pop’s installation is at Kew Gardens until 5th March 2023. Admission is included with tickets to Kew, which you can book ahead right HERE.

Pip & Pop | Kew Gardens, Richmond, TW9 3AE

Love weird and wonderful art? Check out the best exhibitions on in London right now.