Art Fairs
Lucy Sparrow Opens a Felted Vegetable Stand—With Fatboy Slim Playing Greengrocer
The artist has a new selection of felt "paintings," as well as 20,000 of her beloved stuffed sculptures.
by
Sarah Cascone
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Lucy Sparrow wants you to eat your vegetables. Or, she at least wants you to buy her delightful felt fruit and vegetable sculptures—and she’s even enlisted her fellow Brit Fatboy Slim to act as a greengrocer for the afternoon, helping sell the friendly produce at “Blessed Be the Fruit,” her farmers market installation at the SCOPE Art Show in Miami Beach.
The British artist is known for her delightful stuffed foodstuffs, and for selling them at pitch perfect installations that capture every detail of vendors like a New York bodega or a British corner shop. But her third consecutive SCOPE appearance, Sparrow is changing tack, from last year’s carb-heavy “Feltz Bagels” and her cute and cuddly McDonald’s in 2022 to a more wellness-based approach.
“The idea this year is about wholesomeness, and respecting the living things that grow, rather than fast food,” Sparrow told me at the fair’s VIP opening.
She was looking forward to putting Fatboy Slim to work slinging produce, the second year that the musician would be helping out with her SCOPE project. (He’ll be at the stand starting at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4.)
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“We call him one of the Bowery boys, the fruit store sellers that shout out what there is to sell. He would be perfect for the job,” Sparrow said, adding that she’s made the musician a name tag rechristening him “Fruitboy Slim.”
The textile artist has had a busy fall, prepping not only for SCOPE but also her new partnership with Maison Diptyque. Sparrow created an interactive installation called “Épicerie des Fêtes,” or holiday grocery, for the French fragrance brand’s Paris flagship and new London store.
Lucy Sparrow’s “Blessed Be the Fruit” installation at the SCOPE Art Show in Miami Beach. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Her Miami fruit and veggie stand is offering more than 20,000 individually hand-sewn felt sculptures, long a Sparrow signature. (There are 60 types, including cherries and pears, which are new to this project.) But she’s also venturing into flat, wall-hanging works as well, with a collection of 50 framed still-life artworks.
Sparrow first tried her hand at crafting felt “paintings” for the bagel shop, with her own versions of a couple of vintage ads for Kosher food products. She’s done similar works for “Blessed Be the Fruit” featuring Georgia peaches, Florida orange juice, and other regional offerings, as well as her take on still life fruit paintings.
Lucy Sparrow, Juce Me (2024). Photo courtesy of the artist.
“I wanted to offer a real traditional thing in the most untraditional medium,” Sparrow said of the works, where bowls of oranges and pineapples each have shiny black eyes and tiny, smiling mouths. “Without faces, it didn’t necessarily feel like mine. It’s traditional, but it’s still got the silliness!”
The artist admitted to being inspired by a lingering insecurity about her oeuvre, which some might argue is more akin to stuffed animals than the kind of art typically shown at museums.
Lucy Sparrow’s $250 limited edition Maurizio Cattelan-inspired banana at the “Blessed Be the Fruit” installation at the SCOPE Art Show in Miami Beach. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Then again, Sotheby’s just sold a banana for $6.2 million. Sparrow, whose personal mascot is actually a stuffed banana she’s named Sebastian, is gamely offering her own take on Maurizio Cattelan’s controversial Comedian, made, of course, from felt. The limited edition work costs $250, and she had already sold seven when I visited the booth.
There’s also a series of what Sparrow is calling “family portraits,” where she’s paired her anthropomorphic produce items with humorous catch phrases. The peach for instance, insists “I never asked for all this attention,” and the eggplant pleads “Stop sexualizing me.” Others are puns, like “Orange
you are the sunshine,” an early favorite among collectors on opening day.
Lucy Sparrow’s eggplant from her “Family Portrait” series. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“I imagined what I would say if I would was the vegetable,” Sparrow said. “They’ve never had a voice before.”
The works are each made in an edition of 20, and there are 45 flat designs in total, ranging in price from $200 to $2,500. Sparrow has also got some of the cheapest art offerings across Miami Art Week, with individual strawberries at just $10 each. And with holiday gift-giving in mind, there are $60 boxes of fruit and veggie Christmas ornaments.
Lucy Sparrow, The Periodic Table of Fruits and Vegetables (2024). Photo courtesy of the artist.
On the other end of the spectrum, at $10,000, is a massive, one-of-one periodic table with fruits and vegetables standing in for each of the elements. The piece reflects Sparrow’s interest in science and nature, updating an early work of the artist that was a periodic table titled Heartfelt Destruction of All Weapons.
“This,” she said, “is the most joyful version of that.”
“Lucy Sparrow: Blessed Be the Fruit” is on view at SCOPE Art Show, 801 Ocean Drive, between 8th and 10th Streets, Miami Beach, Florida, December 3–8, 2024.
