The chances of felt are limitless when you think about what Lucy Sparrow has remodeled during the last decade. From New York bodegas and British nook outlets to total supermarkets and pharmacies, her world of soppy sculpture has introduced the on a regular basis to life… one sew at a time.
Now, the acclaimed British artist returns to London with The Bourdon Avenue Chippy, an interactive fish and chip store made totally of felt, opening tomorrow on the Lyndsey Ingram Gallery in Mayfair.
Step inside, and you will be met with banquette seating, gleaming signage, and a counter stacked excessive with all the pieces you’d anticipate out of your native chippy, however recreated in material. Over 65,000 hand-stitched items fill the house, with 15 totally different chip shapes in 5 shades (as a result of why accept one?). You’ll be able to “order” your Friday evening particular and take in the nostalgic attraction of an area that is as a lot about British consolation as it’s about craft.
As ever, Sparrow’s felt world disarms with its attraction, drawing us into acquainted territory whereas gently asking us to look once more. Her earlier works have taken us into the aisles of Cornershop (2014), the fluorescent cabinets of 8 Until Late (2017), and the tidy rows of The Bourdon Avenue Chemist (2021), the place Sparrow final teamed up with Lyndsey Ingram Gallery. Every one remodeled the on a regular basis into one thing really extraordinary.
We have adopted Lucy’s journey right here at Artistic Increase for a few years – from her early DIY tasks to her full-scale installations throughout the globe. It has been fantastic to see how she’s advanced from a solo artist stitching all the pieces by hand into the artistic drive behind what’s now, successfully, a full-scale felt manufacturing unit. Based mostly in a transformed ambulance station in Suffolk – lovingly known as the ‘Felt Cave’ – Lucy now leads a small staff of professional felters who assist reduce, sew, and assemble her hundreds of creations. Each piece nonetheless carries her private contact, with Lucy hand-painting all logos, indicators and ending particulars. A lot of the work is offered immediately by way of her web site, the place her ever-growing fanbase eagerly snaps up her one-of-a-kind items.
“We’re excited to welcome Lucy Sparrow again to Bourdon Avenue for an additional of her felt creations,” says gallerist Lyndsey Ingram. “She blurs the strains between efficiency and set up artwork, all in her distinctive felt language. Lucy is likely one of the most necessary and significant artists of her era.”
However The Bourdon Avenue Chippy carries new weight, too. In June, Sparrow revealed she has lived with anorexia since her teenagers. Now in restoration, she’s mirrored on how her relationship with meals has at all times formed her artwork. “The 2 are inextricably linked,” she says. “Over time, I got here to know that my follow had develop into a approach to handle tough feelings. Artwork is each my outlet and my motivation to remain properly.”
What makes Lucy’s work shine is not simply the humour or the ridiculous degree of element – it is the center behind it. There’s one thing quietly shifting about all of it. You do not anticipate to really feel emotional about felt chips, however someway, you do. These aren’t simply daft felt chips or novelty setups – they’re little love letters to the on a regular basis, stitched with care and a necessity for connection. It is artwork that reminds you of house. Of consolation. Of the small, acquainted issues that get us by way of.
The Bourdon Avenue Chippy is open to the general public from tomorrow (1 August) till 14 September 2025, Wednesday to Sunday, plus Financial institution Vacation Monday (25 August). Lucy might be within the house each day, and the exhibition is free to go to. You will not discover any actual salt and vinegar, however you will go away with one thing much more lasting and significant.
