LUCY’S DELICATESSEN ON 6TH
Presented in partnership with Tishman Speyer at Rockefeller Center (6th Avenue between 49th & 50th Streets)
Press Release
ART PRODUCTION FUND AND ROCKEFELLER CENTER® PRESENTS LUCY SPARROW’S DELICATESSEN ON 6TH AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER® AS PART OF ART IN FOCUS PUBLIC ART PROGRAM
INSTALLATION FEATURES A FULLY FUNCTIONING RETAIL EXPERIENCE MIMICKING AN UPSCALE DELI, ALL IN FELT
Lucy Sparrow's Delicatessen on 6th Hours of Operation
11 am - 8pm / 7 days a week
Rockefeller Center (6th Avenue between 49th & 50th Streets)
Installation on view October 1st - 20st
NEW YORK, NY – September 3, 2019 - Contemporary British artist Lucy Sparrow, known for her covetable felt art pieces and shops, will return to New York City with Lucy Sparrow’s Delicatessen on 6th, an interactive public art project and retail experience at Rockefeller Center. Opening on the corner of 49th Street and 6th Avenue on October 1, this sixth installation in her felt shop series will resemble a New York City upscale deli, with every single one of the items, from cheese to fish, chocolate to fruit handmade out of felt. All items in the fine food shop will be available for purchase. This installation is part of the ‘Art in Focus’ public art program at Rockefeller Center presented in partnership with the nonprofit Art Production Fund.
Felt artist Lucy Sparrow is regarded as one of the most exciting and original artists working in the UK today. Her practice is quirky yet subversive, luring the audience in with her soft, tactile, colorful felt creations that represent themes of consumerism and consumption.
Each of her installations has unveiled a site-specific, interactive, parallel universe, envisioned and then faithfully reproduced in felt. Lucy Sparrow’s Delicatessen on 6th will pay homage to the gourmet treasure trove of temptation for which New York is famous: the upscale deli. At Rockefeller Center, Lucy’s on 6th will be a fine food emporium with every counter – from patisserie to confectionary, fancy French fromages to fresh fish and seafood – overflowing with a cornucopia of unique full-felted, hand-stitched, bejeweled artworks. New for this installation, the artwork is adorned with tiny eyes and smiles, encouraging the viewer to examine their relationship with the food they purchase and to consider their own thoughts about consumerism.
Lucy Sparrow’s installation is the latest in the ‘Art in Focus’ series at Rockefeller Center, a multidisciplinary public art program presented in partnership with the non-profit Art Production Fund that showcases exhibits by contemporary artists inspired by the New York City landscape and contemporary life. In addition to Delicatessen on 6th, Sparrow will display works in a number of unique and unexpected public locations throughout Rockefeller Center, including vitrines that will be designed to resemble aquariums and terrariums made of felt, lycra, diamante, sequins, and glass beads. Joana Avillez’s “Rockefeller Center Holiday Map” kicked off the series in December 2018, followed by public art installations by Hein Koh, Portia Munson and LaKela Brown.
Lucy Sparrow took the art world by storm in 2014 with the opening of her fully-stocked felt Cornershop installation in London’s East End. With queues around the block and wall-to-wall media coverage, the installation was both a commercial and critical success. In 2016 the BBC commissioned Sparrow to recreate the Crown Jewels in felt, to celebrate HRH The Queen’s official 90th birthday. Her work was unveiled in the windows of the Hermés flagship Store on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills and she dominated the headlines at Miami Art Week with her installation piece, Triple Art Bypass, (both 2018) that saw the artist perform ‘live’ surgery to huge crowds at Context Art Fair. www.sewyoursoul.co.uk / Instagram @sewyoursoul
ART PRODUCTION FUND is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Past projects include: Elmgreen & Dragset,“Prada Marfa,” Valentine, TX, Ugo Rondinone, “Seven Magic Mountains,” Las Vegas, Jeff Koons, “Seated Ballerina,” Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, Zoe Buckman, “CHAMP,” LA; Raul de Nieves, “When I Look Into Your Eyes I See The Sun,” Miami, FL. For more information, please visit artproductionfund.org / @ArtProductionFund
For news and updates about ‘Art in Focus’ follow @RockefellerCenter on Twitter and Instagram and Like Rockefeller Center on Facebook. Join the conversation by using #RockCenter
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