Juxtapoz Art and Culture-Spring_2019

LUCY SPARROW JUXTAPOZ.COM 73

I’m glad you had your Mum and Harry! Fill us in
that first show. It was The Cornershop, right?
It was a very small corner shop in east London.
I had applied three times for Art Council
money, and got it on the third try. I also did a
Kickstarter campaign, and it went viral, so I took
a load of photos and sent them off to a press
agency because I read that’s what you do. It got
syndicated around the world, and then I was on
the phone talking to the BBC. And then China
wanted to come and film it, as well. And I just
thought, “My life has gotten very strange.”

Instead of taking an Art Business class, it was
baptism by fire and you just learned as you
went along. For that first show, in addition to
hoping to sell things, what was the concept for
your role?
I made myself an apron, and I painted a logo of the
Cornershop on it. Besides, my parents didn’t know
if anyone was going to turn up. When I opened
the door, there’s this queue down the street, so
my Mum and Dad were with me every night. We

didn’t have any security, so we did this “one in,

one out” kind of thing; just my parents and me

trying to run this art show. Then my boyfriend at

the time came in to stock the shelves and hand out

baskets and do crowd control. Yeah, it was mad.

And you design uniforms for the staff for all the

shows, right?

I try and get my agents to wear outfits and

uniforms, but they never do! Maybe cuz I try to

make them as embarrassing as possible, always

crazy, vibrant colors. Designing the outfit is

sometimes the funnest part of doing a show.

I saw the Miami show before the store actually

opened. Were the items there in a typical sized

space for your work, and do you have a kind of

template for stocking the stores?

I think Miami was about one twentieth of what

was in LA, which we had to close early because the

shelves started to look too empty. We had three

different aisles and was about 3000 square feet.

It’s about no reds next to each other; no yellows

next each other. As soon as a photo is taken, that’s

how it’s got to stay, you know. Mostly I was using

the logic of a normal supermarket, so a can of

Spam would be next to a can of hot-dogs. I worked

in a supermarket for over three years. There’s such

an art to arranging the stuff. It made me so happy.

I saw lots of American and English products and

wonder if you do foods from other countries.

I did a show in Montreal that had some

Canadian foods, but unless they are private

commissions, it’s generally UK or US. But I love

foreign supermarkets and would love to do

Tokyo. What you could do there would be mind-

blowing, as would South Korea with its brightly

colored packaging. And I definitely want to do a

department store or a strip mall.

I know you’ve said you enjoy the health and

beauty aisle, but personally, I really relate to

the food.

I do like all the tiny medicines, the dental floss

and toothbrushes, all the little things you need