Fish, chips & 65,000 felt items: Lucy Sparrow’s again on Bourdon Street

The prospects of felt are countless when you think about what Lucy Sparrow has reworked over the past 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 Street 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 every little thing you’d count on out of your native chippy, however recreated in cloth. Over 65,000 hand-stitched items fill the area, with 15 totally different chip shapes in 5 shades (as a result of why accept one?). You can “order” your Friday evening particular and take in the nostalgic allure 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 allure, 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 Till Late (2017), and the tidy rows of The Bourdon Street Chemist (2021), the place Sparrow final teamed up with Lyndsey Ingram Gallery. Each one reworked the on a regular basis into one thing really extraordinary.

We’ve adopted Lucy’s journey right here at Creative Boom for a few years – from her early DIY tasks to her full-scale installations throughout the globe. It’s been fantastic to see how she’s advanced from a solo artist stitching every little thing by hand into the inventive pressure behind what’s now, successfully, a full-scale felt manufacturing facility. Based in a transformed ambulance station in Suffolk – lovingly known as the ‘Felt Cave’ – Lucy now leads a small workforce of knowledgeable felters who assist minimize, sew, and assemble her hundreds of creations. Every piece nonetheless carries her private contact, with Lucy hand-painting all logos, indicators and ending particulars. Much of the work is offered immediately through her web site, the place her ever-growing fanbase eagerly snaps up her one-of-a-kind items.

“We are excited to welcome Lucy Sparrow back to Bourdon Street for another of her felt creations,” says gallerist Lyndsey Ingram. “She blurs the lines between performance and installation art, all in her distinctive felt language. Lucy is one of the most important and meaningful artists of her generation.”

But The Bourdon Street 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 all the time formed her artwork. “The two are inextricably linked,” she says. “Over time, I came to understand that my practice had become a way to manage difficult emotions. Art is both my outlet and my motivation to stay well.”

What makes Lucy’s work shine is not simply the humour or the ridiculous stage of element – it is the center behind it. There’s one thing quietly transferring about all of it. You do not count on to really feel emotional about felt chips, however by some means, 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’s artwork that reminds you of dwelling. Of consolation. Of the small, acquainted issues that get us by way of.

The Bourdon Street Chippy is open to the general public from tomorrow (1 August) till 14 September 2025, Wednesday to Sunday, plus Bank Holiday Monday (25 August). Lucy will likely be within the area day by 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 way more lasting and significant.