11th August meeting

11th August meeting: Join us for a talk with artist Lucy Sparrow about her exhibition 'The Cornershop', an installation of a shop made entirely out of felt.

Each item - from the bean cans, to the cigarette packets and chewing gum - will be made entirely out of felt: each item meticulously hand sewn, stuffed and priced. Artist Lucy Sparrow will be coming to the Stokey WI about the exhibition, bringing samples of some of the felt items as well as giving an insight into the meaning of the high street and the cornershop.

About Lucy Sparrow

Working at the intersection of contemporary art and craft, Lucy Sparrow’s work sets the agenda for textiles within the urban art scene. She works mainly with felt and wool, creating over-sized soft versions of existing objects and major art works The aim of this ‘feltism’ is to question, playfully, the politics of artistic production and to tackle (often collaboratively) some of realities of contemporary living, dealing with issues concerning the politics of consumerism, social exclusion, gender, and neurological diversity.

She has advanced her arts practice and social agenda through her own solo shows (“Imitation”, 2012, Hoxton Gallery, London; “Softcore”, 2013, Crocus Gallery, Nottingham), and her work has been shown alongside notable street artists, including Banksy, in the “Urban Take-Over”, the Victoria & Albert Museum’s touring Street Art exhibition and in the “Urban Art Show” (Louise T Blouin Foundation, 2013). She also have works in private and corporate collections in the EU and the US. As part of the strategic vision she has for this field of practice, she curated the “Craftivism” Group Show (W3 London, 2013), reflecting critically on the intersection of fine art, craft, politics and social change. She has been an invited contributor to over 35 group shows, including the annual Modern Panic exhibition (2009-2013) and the City Art Institute of Mental Health Exhibition (Nottingham, 2013-14). Alongside her gallery based practice, she has developed a series of participatory high profile public art projects, including activist work with Greenpeace, and “mini-structures’ a six month long commission for Time Out.

In August 2014, Lucy will unveil an 8-month long project to create an entire cornershop out of felt for a month in Bethnal Green, London. It will then move to Brighton in October 2014.

Free for members, £5 for visitors