The World's Most Charming, Useless Bodega

In 1961, the artist Claes Oldenburg circumvented the gallery world and set up his own storefront in New York City’s East Village. His direct-to-consumer performance was called, fittingly, “The Store,” and he hawked tweaked versions of the goods on offer at nearby establishments, arranged to evoke their display in those more-traditional outposts. There was, for instance, a slice of blueberry pie molded from plaster and set in a display case next to a banana split midway through the business of melting. Hurtled 50 years into the future, the show would have been an Instagram darling.

Its spiritual offspring is “8 ‘Till Late,” currently on view in a Chelsea storefront loaned by the Standard Hotel. This time around, the British artist Lucy Sparrow does have Instagram at her disposal. The installation relies on a similar gimmick: It’s a makeshift bodega stocked with 9,000 staples, all made out of felt.