Photo courtesy of The Standard.
Growing up under the gray skies of post-recession Britain, Lucy Sparrow was mesmerized by the Technicolor splendors of Los Angeles. She was obsessed with the power of bright colors, catchy logos, and familiar forms. These days, Sparrow’s art installations take a cue from Hollywood’s glossy imitation of reality, but with a twist that infuses the ordinary bits of life with wonder.
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What Sparrow is best-known for is building a series of corner stores, pharmacies, and even a sex shop where all the merchandise is meticulously crafted out of felt. She recognized the charm of recasting commonplace items in an unexpected material, and tapped into the persistent cultural identity that comes from consumption (cue Barbara Kruger’s I shop therefore I am ).
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Last summer, Sparrow opened a felt bodega in New York City selling plush produce, junk food, and even felt condoms. The installation, 8 ‘Till Late, drew so many visitors that it closed in under a month—a full week early—because the shop sold out. (Everything in the store was for sale, with prices starting at just $1.)
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On the heels of that incredible success, Sparrow just opened her fifth fully-felted installation, Sparrow Mart in Downtown Los Angeles, modeled on the city’s ubiquitous convenience stores. It’s four times larger than the New York show and took a year to create, and it’s stocked with more than 31,000 items, all of which are for sale.
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I caught up with her as she was putting the finishing touches on Sparrow Mart in LA to chat about her fondness for felt and why she’s obsessed with supermarkets.
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Photo courtesy of The Standard.
Photo courtesy of The Standard.