- A recent art installation in New York City took shape in the form of a delicatessen with 30,000 items made entirely of felt, from sea urchins to bagels.
- Insider spoke with Lucy Sparrow, the artist behind the installation, about her inspiration for the project.
- Sparrow said she chose bodegas and delis for her installations because they're "lifelines to so many New Yorkers."
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Two years after impressing New Yorkers with her felt bodega, artist Lucy Sparrow returned to the city with another art installation. This time, Sparrow's work took shape in the form of a delicatessen with 30,000 items made entirely of felt, from sea urchins to bagels.
Insider spoke with Sparrow about her inspiration for "Delicatessen on 6th," who said she chose bodegas and delis for her installations because they're "lifelines to so many New Yorkers."
I popped into the latest installation before it closed, and checked out the felt wonderland for myself. Here's what it was like.
"Delicatessen on 6th," a pop-up installation by artist Lucy Sparrow, is tucked away on Sixth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets.
The recent installation was open at Rockefeller Center from October 1 to October 20.
When you walk in, you're warned by a sign made of felt to "mind the step."
When I arrived, the store was full of people milling around, fawning over the cute produce and dry goods.
Filling the shelves are what appears to be fruit with faces drawn on them.
All of the oranges, bananas, limes, and watermelons that were on the shelves had smiling faces.
However, upon closer inspection, it's clear that every one of the items in the delicatessen is made of felt.
Even the intricate lettering and logos on the canned food is all made of felt and stitching. Additionally, all of the items are available for purchase.
Lucy Sparrow, the artist behind the eponymous delicatessen, began creating felt art installations five years ago.
"I have always worked with felt, but it only became installations about five years ago," Sparrow told Insider. "What I didn't realize was the reactions that people coming to see the installations would have. It took on a whole new life!"
Before she became a popular artist, Sparrow only considered her work with felt to be a hobby.
"What I thought was fun and just a hobby actually turned into an emotional and happy way to approach art that I never really expected," Sparrow said.
While she acknowledged the impressive scale of the art installation, she said the real artistic value is in how visitors react to it.
"Delicatessen on 6th" is Sparrow's largest installation to date, with 30,000 handmade felt pieces.
"This year is super exciting because I've actually prepared a lot more for this one," Sparrow said, "which means it can run the distance."
Every other installation Sparrow has put on had has sold out, forcing the artist to close up shop early.
"Closing down early is never something that I've wanted to do," Sparrow said. "I'm a lot more prepared this time."
The exhibition saw around 30,000 visitors walk through the doors.
Sparrow told Insider that there were 1,000 visitors on opening day.
"We should be approaching 30,000 visitors," Sparrow said. "For a small space, it's pretty impressive."
The felt pieces in "Delicatessen on 6th" are the first of Sparrow's to have faces.
"With faces, there's a lot more of an emotional response from people," Sparrow said. "It's very cutesy, very kitsch. Quite often that's seen as a bad thing, but I disagree completely."
Sparrow doesn't mind that people call her art "cute."
"It's not a bad thing at all," she said. "Jeff Koons never has that problem, so it's fine!"
Sparrow said she noticed a difference between the responses of UK audiences and audiences from America.
"In some ways, I actually prefer the US response to my work, because it's a lot more expressive," Sparrow said, chuckling. "I think British people, being reserved as they are, they don't make a big deal of stuff."
Sparrow also said that British people can be "impressed to hell" but that they'll never let you know.
"In the States, people are like 'Wow that's amazing, you've done so well!' and at first it was very overwhelming, but now it's rewarding," she explained. "It makes up for all the hard work we put into the show."
Her favorite pieces were the spring onions, which, unfortunately, had already sold out before I got to check out the installation.
"My first exhibition was like this, only five years ago," Sparrow explained. "It was called The Cornershop. That was followed by a Gun Shop and a Sex Shop.
All three exhibitions were made using felt.
Sparrow said she chose to create all-felt bodegas and delis because of their intrinsic ties to life in New York City.
"Two years ago I did the bodega near the High Line. That was my American debut," she said.
Sparrow said she chose bodegas and delis for her installations because they're "lifelines to so many New Yorkers."
"I'm interested in the familiarity people have with the interactions in their everyday life," she explained.
This year's installation took Sparrow around 10 months to complete.
Sparrow said the time-per-piece varies depending on the object.
"A tiny prawn could take me two minutes," she explained. "A lobster could take an hour. "That — times 30,000 — takes a lot of time. This show took ten months with two full-time assistants and some ladies who help out."
Sparrow's next installation will be in China, but she's also planning exhibitions in the US and the UK in the coming years.
Sparrow said that many artists and galleries are reaching out with installation opportunities.
"There's a lot on the table," she explained. "We're still choosing which one to go for. There's a big show in the UK coming in 2022. Definitely something stateside coming up as well. I'm actually going straight to China after this show to do another iteration of a show I previously did in Beijing."
Sparrow said she has no plans to stray from felt, her preferred artistic medium.
"Everything is always done with felt — it never changes," she said. "It's not a coincidence that felt also means emotion and feeling. I don't think that will ever change. "
Sparrow believes that art that's light and fun should still be taken seriously.
"I actually think art has more of an effect if it's fun and people react to it," Sparrow said, adding that felt "is escapism" and "Prozac for the soul."
At the end of the day, Sparrow wants visitors to feel included.
"It's always been important to me that art is accessible to absolutely any age range, any background, and any economic circumstances," she said. "I remember going to galleries as a kid and feeling so intimidated and so shut out of the art world — I want to break down those barriers."
Sparrow left me with one final piece of wisdom: "Art is for everyone."
"It's not about white walls and the way that you dress," Sparrow explained. "Art is for absolutely everyone. Here, you can get a tiny prawn for five dollars. That right there is a kid starting their art collection."