Flip the Deck – Billboard Commissions Announced!

We’re delighted to announce the recipients of the Flip the Deck | Whip It Up! billboard commission, Abi Ighodaro, and Carmen Quigley. Taking over the Project billboard during two dedicated slots this year, they’ll be transforming the Big Blue Building into a site of vital social, political, and artistic discourse.

Through this open call – we asked you what does our city look like one, two, twenty years from now? What can we learn from our past, our present, and our future?

Do you see something on the horizon that you want to get people talking about? This year, we invited your predictions, your readings, your horoscopes, and your divinations – hopes, fears, fortunes, and aspirations.

Stay tuned for daring work inspired by our Flip the Deck open call!

View our 2022 Whip it Up! artists & billboards here.

View our 2021 Whip it Up! artists & billboards here.

Abi Ighodaro is a multi-disciplinary artist who works with drawing, textiles and movement, with a particular interest in presenting work in outdoor settings.  As an artist from the African Diaspora, she has a deep connection with loss and displacement, and  aims to explore these as  shared human experiences rather than a singular narrative, allowing for a richer engagement with diverse audiences. Ighodaro is inspired by West African Masquerade and textile traditions, especially their ‘holding space’ for the well-being of the community.

Be a Good Ancestor by Abi Ighodaro

Be a Good Ancestor pays homage to the vibrant textiles of West Africa, inspired by the tradition of handwritten incantations, blessings, and messages sewn into garments.

The piece explores the role of textiles in identity and belonging, which are intimately tied to our sense of self and place in the world. By translating this into a digital work, the artwork spans the past and present, extrapolating to a future.

It also speaks to the globalised world of international travel and mass migration, where people’s identities are shaped by their heritage and their experiences in new places, highlighting the importance of inclusivity and exchange.

This work aims to translate this idea in the form of a message from the future in a contemporary Dublin setting.

See it on the Project billboard 17 July to 14 August!

The Holy Wells Are Overflowing! is a drawing that predicts Dublin’s future.

At last, the Wells are going to overflow and reclaim the concrete that has contained them. They’ll burst out from behind their gates or stone structures, and any lost springs will spring forward! The sacred fish will flop onto the footpaths and bless whoever sees them. The healing waters will heal the city, and nature will take back their stones from the buildings.

Holy Wells were sacred pagan sites, visited by people in search of cures and healing.

Over time they were altered to conform to Christian beliefs and convert the native masses.

The need to control and own spaces that need no controlling or owner, is something seen in our city every day. This piece represents a hopeful prediction for an end to the commodification of Dublin.

See Carmen Quigley’s billboard The Holy Wells Are Overflowing! on the big blue building 16 October – 12 November.

Carmen Quigley is a visual artist based in Dublin, primarily making drawings.

Mythology, folklore and storytelling are the foundations of the work. Spinning a yarn with pen and paper.

Follow Carmen on Instagram via @carquig.