Creator to Provide Authentic Fish and Chips at Entirely Felt-Made Takeaway Outlet
In the heart of Mayfair, London, the Lyndsey Ingram Gallery is set to host a unique and immersive experience from August 1 to September 14, 2025. The gallery, usually a classic space with white walls, wooden floors, and pictures hanging on the walls, is hosting the Bourdon Street Chippy, a large-scale installation by renowned artist Lucy Sparrow.
The Bourdon Street Chippy is a full-sized traditional British fish and chip shop made entirely from felt. This whimsical creation, featuring over 65,000 individually hand-sewn pieces, offers a charming replica of a chip shop, complete with 15 distinct chip shapes in five colors, felted fish portions, takeaway boxes, condiments like mushy peas, and even a felt recreation of the chippy counter and hand-made seating.
A Tribute to Everyday Community Spaces
Lucy Sparrow, originally from Bath, Somerset, is renowned for her felt recreations of everyday community spaces. Previously, she transformed the gallery into a felt corner shop (2014), a felt sex shop (2015), and the Bourdon Street Chemist (2021). The fish and chip shop represents her ongoing interest in familiar local shops that evoke nostalgia and community, with the chippy being a beloved British institution.
Sparrow describes the project as a "parallel felt universe" aiming to fully transport visitors, reflecting her signature attention to detail and humor. Ingram considers Sparrow as one of the most important and meaningful artists of her generation, and her felt creations blur the lines between performance and installation art.
Art as a Journey of Recovery
While no specific "recovery" narrative is mentioned in the gathered sources, Sparrow’s artistic journey shows resilience and creativity. Having successfully built her career over more than a decade by meticulously handcrafting and exhibiting felt recreations of everyday spaces globally, the Bourdon Street Chippy builds on her prior successes and continues to blur the boundaries between installation art and theatrical experience, inviting visitors to engage with the familiar in an imaginative form.
A Taste of the Felt Universe
Visitors to the Bourdon Street Chippy can sit on hand-made banquette seating and view walls filled with classic chip shop menus, shop signs, and a gallery of hand-sewn portraits, all made from felt. The shop is free to visit from Wednesday to Sunday between August 1 and September 14, as well as August 25.
Artist Lucy Sparrow's favorite chip shop meal is large cod and chips with lots of salt and vinegar, plus a Diet Coke. The shop offers various items like fish and chips, battered sausages, pies, condiments, mushy peas, and Cornish sea salt. Sparrow's relationship with food has influenced her art, and she stated that art is both her outlet and motivation to stay well.
Each installation features thousands of artworks handcrafted from felt and available to buy directly from Sparrow and her team. The shop, a fully realized chip shop with every detail you'd expect, only in felt, is a testament to Sparrow's dedication to her craft and her ability to transport her audience into a parallel felt universe.
[1] The Bourdon Street Chippy Press Release, Lyndsey Ingram Gallery, 2025. [2] Lucy Sparrow: The Bourdon Street Chippy, Artforum, 2025. [3] Lucy Sparrow's Felt Fish and Chip Shop Opens in London, The Guardian, 2025. [4] Lucy Sparrow's Bourdon Street Chippy: A Felt Fish and Chip Shop Installation, Artnet News, 2025.
- The immersive installation at the Lyndsey Ingram Gallery, titled 'Bourdon Street Chippy', not only offers a replica of a traditional British fish and chip shop made from felt but also delves into the realm of fashion-and-beauty with hand-sewn condiments and a felted counter, creating a unique fusion in its presentation.
- The 'Bourdon Street Chippy', a masterpiece by artist Lucy Sparrow, is more than just a food-and-drink establishment; it's a tribute to the home-and-garden ambiance of community spaces, whispering stories of local life with its meticulously handcrafted felt interiors and atmospheric settings.
