In the spring of 2021, my usually serene gallery at 20 Bourdon Street was transformed into the Bourdon Street Chemist – a joyful visual cacophony of felt pharmaceuticals by artist Lucy Sparrow. Lucy had been working on the concept of a felt chemist and the NFS (National Felt Service) for several years. Having been twice postponed by the pandemic, it was sheer serendipity that the project was finally realised just as London was coming out of the darkest days of lockdown. The health crisis caused by COVID created a heightened sense of gratitude for the NHS and for our local chemists, adding a poignant relevance to the project that we could have never predicted.
