Fatboy Slim Didn’t Forget His Fruits and Vegetables During Miami Art Week

On Wednesday afternoon, artist Lucy Sparrow was waiting for her shop boy to arrive at SCOPE. He was running a few minutes behind, but not even the stop-and-go Miami traffic could keep Fatboy Slim from clocking in for his latest Miami Art Week gig: fruit and veggie seller.

The DJ soon tied on an apron and enthusiastically stepped into his alter-ego as “Fruitboy Slim” for Sparrow’s immersive “Blessed Be the Fruit” felted fruit and vegetable stand installation.

“I’m quite a smiley person,” said the British DJ, glancing around the colorful booth space fully stocked with smiling fruits and vegetables, with on-theme felted still life paintings lining the walls. It was his second time lending Sparrow a hand, after participating in her Fritz Bagel installation at last year’s SCOPE fair. “When I was working here last year, it was great because you watch people. As a DJ, I’m always watching people’s reactions. And everybody, when they see [Sparrow’s work], it sort of melts them and they smile.”

The DJ connected with Sparrow through a mutual connection, drawn to the artist’s energy and colorful approach to art.

“She makes you smile, she makes you laugh. It’s affordable,” the DJ said of her work. “It reminds me of when I first got into art,” he added. “It was through Keith Haring, which I got into through music, because he did record sleeves. He did the Pop Shop, which was selling art but having something fun and affordable. It really reminds me of that kind of aesthetic. You can own a very cute piece of art for a very little money and feel part of it.”

The DJ kicked off Miami Art Week with the opening night of the Wynwood Walls on Monday and a signing event for his coffee brand Pepita, which launched a collaboration with several artists who designed collectible tin artwork. “The tag line is ‘Coffee elevated to an art form.’” He’d also performed at the opening night of Faena Art the night before, and was slated to finish out his Miami trip with a full-day DJ set at Hyde Beach on Friday.

“I don’t come in here mainly expecting to buy. I’ve been given a few things. But there’s always that thing when you see something and you fall in love with it,” he said when asked if he’d had an opportunity to pick up any art between the gigs. “It’s not like when people go to Vegas, where it’s like, well, I’m prepared to drop five grand here.”

Of course, at Art Basel, the most buzzy works often sell for much more than $5,000. Sparrow had “duct-taped” one of her smiling felted bananas to the wall of her installation, an homage to Maurizio Cattelan’s infamous 2019 Art Basel piece “Comedian” that recently sold at auction for $6.2 million. Sparrow’s nonperishable version, titled “Inside Joke,” was available for $250 in an edition of 100 and was a popular photo op for fair guests.

“It’s kind of come into social consciousness again, and I thought it was absolutely too good to pass over having the chance to do that,” said Sparrow, who has a personal affinity for bananas that goes back to a childhood plushie. “I’ve been loving all the memes going around, and I love it when art creates such a conversation and crosses over into mainstream social life. I’m an artist, I have loads of art things coming up on my feed all the time, but this is something that really crossed over.”

Sparrow aims to channel that element of joyful surprise in her work, whether its through Fatboy Slim serving unexpecting fairgoers, or through a fully felted installation at Maison Diptyque London, currently on view for the holiday season.

“A level of positivity is beaming from this corner of the fair. It’s been amazing,” she said.