Lucy Sparrow
Lucy Sparrow and Basil in the Banana Room
Lucy Sparrow and Basil in the Banana Room
Sparrow in her "Banana Room"
Born (1986-07-08) 8 July 1986
Bath, England, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
Known forContemporary art, soft sculpture, street art, Young British Artists
Notable workThe Cornershop, Sparrow Mart, 8 'till Late
Websitesewyoursoul.co.uk

Lucy Sparrow (born 8 July 1986)[1][2] is a contemporary artist originating from Bath, England. She works at the intersection of contemporary art and craft setting the agenda for textiles within the urban art scene. She works mainly with felt and wool, creating life-sized replicas in addition to oversized soft versions of existing objects.[3] Her work often features the SSRI prescription drug Prozac[4] and often features Sparrows interpretations of the retail[5] environment, the intricacies of product branding throughout the modern era and her full-sized representations of supermarkets.[6]

In the early stages of her career, Sparrow was involved in a number of notable group shows in the UK. She was a contributor to the Victoria and Albert Museum 2013 travelling street art collection alongside Banksy, Blek le Rat, Jamie Hewlett, Pure Evil, D*Face and urban illustrator Oh Jiwon.[7] Her first solo show at Hoxton Gallery was Imitation,[8] which recreated famous artworks out of felt, including a shark in a tank by Damien Hirst.[9]

Following from her participation in group shows, Sparrow launched her first UK solo show in 2014[10] before moving on to release her first international solo show, 8 'till Late in 2017[11] in America. Since 2017, Sparrow has continued to exhibit globally across America[6] and Asia[12] in addition to the UK.[13]

Solo Shows

The Cornershop

In 2014, Sparrow created a Kickstarter campaign to fund her first major exhibition.[10] The Cornershop was a soft sculpture recreation of a British newsagent's installed in a derelict cornershop in East London. According to news sources, it took Sparrow and her assistant seven months and 300 sq. metres of felt to create the 4,000 items on display.[14][15]

The Warmongery

Following from The Cornershop, Sparrow created The Warmongery[16] show in Boxpark, located in Bethnall Green, East London. Lucy stated that "The aim of Warmongery is to draw people’s attention to what drives a few individuals to stockpile weapons and to ask why people are growing up in a world where a tiny minority feel so stressed and frustrated that they want to kill people.".[17] The Warmongery ran for 10 days in total.[16]

Madame Roxy's Erotic Emporium

In 2015, Lucy Sparrow made an installation of a sex shop in London's Soho, saying that her inspiration for the work was her five years working as a stripper in a nightclub in London, and that she wished to make people question the increasing suppression of some sexual practices in British law such as use of sex toys and contraception, and the gentrification of Soho.[18][19] The exhibition was called Madame Roxy's Erotic Emporium and included pornographic magazines, whips, toys and jars full of STIs.[20]

8 'till Late

In June 2017, Sparrow installed a felt replica of a bodega in The Standard, High Line hotel in New York City.[21][11] 8 'till Late opened on June 5 and featured 9,000 items.[22] The show was an instant success, requiring Sparrow to temporarily close the show after 7 days to restock.[22] The show was intended to run for 4 weeks but was again forced to close 9 days early following a sell-out of all pieces.[23]

Sparrow Mart

In August 2018, Sparrow released Sparrow Mart,[24] a life-sized replica of a supermarket. The supermarket represented Sparrows fifth major art installation and was built within The Standard, a hotel in Downtown LA. Sparrow Mart featured 31,000 felt grocery items[5] and covered over 2,800 square feet of retail space.

Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Imaginarium

In July 2019, Sparrow created Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Imaginarium[25][12] at M WOODS museum in Beijing, China. This show featured 70 items remade from Sparrows chosen medium, felt.[25] The show opened on July 6, 2019, and remained open until October 7, 2019.[26] Sparrow created full-size versions of masterpieces from Michelangelo's David and da Vinci's Mona Lisa to Damien Hirst's shark in formaldehyde and Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans.[27] Sparrow spent 9 months creating the show which spanned 14 rooms within the museum.[27]

Sixth Avenue Delicatessen

in October 2019 Sparrow reprised her New York City run with the Sixth Avenue Delicatessen show, which ran from October 1 until October 20, 2019. The show was hosted at the Rockefeller Center on Sixth Avenue where she offered some thirty thousand felt replications of perishable food items for sale.[28] Sixth Avenue Delicatessen featured a run of 30,000[6] felt items created by Sparrow. The show was organised by the Art Production Fund and ran for a total of 3 weeks.[29]

The Bourdon Street Chemist

In December 2020 Sparrow announced her upcoming London show, The Bourdon Street Chemist.[30][13] The show is located within the Lyndsey Ingram gallery in Mayfair, London and was originally scheduled to open in January 2021.[31] However, the show was postponed due to restrictions imposed by the UK Government relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show has been rescheduled to April 2021.[32]

Official websites:

References

  1. ↑ "Heartfelt works put Lucy on artistic map". Bath Chronicle. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Lucy Anne SPARROW - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Biography". Lucy Sparrow. 23 February 2015. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  4. ↑ "Fabric artist Lucy Sparrow prepares to an entire cornershop out of felt and wool". Inspiringcity.com. 8 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 Sasha, Bogojev (8 August 2018). "Lucy Sparrow's '80s Style Supermarket Offers 31,000 Handmade Felt Items". Colossal. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Buder, Sarah (3 October 2019). "Artist Lucy Sparrow's Latest Creation Is a Felt Deli Pop-Up in New York City". AFAR. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  7. ↑ Ellis, Dawn. "Crowds flock to see Banksy work on show in Newton Abbot". Torquay Herald Express. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Dennis, Brinkworth (29 March 2012). "Lucy Sparrow "Imitation" at Hoxton Gallery". hauteliving.com. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  9. ↑ Khan, Tabish (28 March 2012). "Imitation at Hoxton Gallery". The Londonist. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  10. 1 2 "The Cornershop". Kickstarter. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  11. 1 2 Gopnik, Blake (6 June 2017). "A 'Fauxdega' Where the Real Bodegas Have Been Priced Out". New York Times. New York. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Imaginarium — M WOODS New". www.mwoods.org. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  13. 1 2 Sparrow, Lucy (5 December 2020). "'The Bourdon Street Chemist' at The Lyndsey Ingram Gallery, London". Lucy Sparrow - Sew your Soul. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  14. ↑ Curtis, Dan. "Artist Lucy Sparrow's felt corner shop open for business". BBC. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  15. ↑ Perraudin, Frances. "Sew Fantastic". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  16. 1 2 Montgomery, Angus. "The Warmongery, by Lucy Sparrow". Design Week. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  17. ↑ Butterfly (12 May 2015). "London: Lucy Sparrow's Warmongery". BUTTERFLY ART NEWS. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  18. ↑ Battersby, Matilda. "Madame Roxy's Erotic Emporium, Lucy Sparrow: Meet the ex-stripper challenging porn censorship with a felt sex shop". The Independent. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  19. ↑ Howarth, Dan (29 September 2015). "Lucy Sparrow tackles 'pruder' with stitched sex shop in London's Soho". Dezeen. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  20. ↑ Hallam, Rosie (9 October 2015). "Hot fuzz: Soho's newest sex shop made entirely of felt – in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Lucy Sparrow's Felt Bodega Hits The Standard, High Line". Standard Hotels. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  22. 1 2 Cascone, Sarah (12 June 2017). "Lucy Sparrow on How Her $500,000 Felt Bodega Is a Relief from Our 'Crazy Political Times'". Artnet News. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  23. ↑ Cascone, Sarah (21 June 2017). "After Selling Out of 9,000 Felt Grocery Goods, Lucy Sparrow Has to Close Fake Bodega Early". Artnet News. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  24. ↑ Gunseli, Yalcinkaya (14 August 2018). "Lucy Sparrow stocks up LA supermarket with 31,000 felt groceries". Dezeen. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  25. 1 2 Yukes, Emily (11 July 2019). "Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Imaginarium". www.thebeijinger.com. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  26. ↑ Evan. "Juxtapoz Magazine - Art History In Felt: "Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Imaginarium" @ M Woods, Beijing". www.juxtapoz.com. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  27. 1 2 Dunne, John (8 July 2019). "These famous art masterpieces have been recreated – with felt". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  28. ↑ ""Delicatessen on 6th" felt deli pop-up opens at Rockefeller Center". New York Daily News.
  29. ↑ Lekka Angelopoulou, Sofia (2 October 2019). "every single item in lucy sparrow's new york deli at the rockefeller center is made of felt". designboom | architecture & design magazine. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  30. ↑ Butt, Amelia Gabaldoni | Video by Yasmin. "Inside artist Lucy Sparrow's pharmacy made from felt: 'It's like Blue Peter on acid'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  31. ↑ Ingram, Lyndsey. "Lucy Sparrow's Bourdon Street Chemist at Lyndsey Ingram". Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  32. ↑ Sparrow, Lucy. "Sew Your Soul - Home - Contemporary Art by Lucy Sparrow". Lucy Sparrow - Sew your Soul. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
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