Did you recently spot a giant, decorated egg on the streets of New York? Maybe you spotted more than a few, because since April 1, over 260 large fiberglass eggs, each decorated by an accomplished artist, architect or designer, have been scattered around the five boroughs, waiting to be found. Who's behind this grown-up, gorgeous Easter egg hunt of sorts? It's The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt, a charitable event that culminates in a huge exhibition of all the eggs in Rockefeller Plaza from April 18 through 25.
There are big-deal names such as Jeff Koons, Terry Richardson, Zaha Hadid and Leo Villareal participating, but it's the sheer breadth of artistic approaches to the two-and-a-half-foot-tall eggs that makes the display so fun. We asked a few of the egg designers to comment on their experiences working on such an odd, ovoid canvas.
Artist, photographer and collagist Franck de las Mercedes told us that he "had painted on hard surfaces before, but never on a round surface. This posed a challenge, especially when it came to some of the lettering and keeping some images from wrinkling," he said. "But I did love that feeling of uncertainty and also going around in circles for hours on end. I joked that I felt like a mechanic when painting the bottom of the egg." (Tragically, de las Mercedes' home studio was destroyed in a fire in February; his only surviving piece of art is the egg.)
The finely detailed animal-print patterns on one egg required physical effort: "It was certainly the most unusually shaped canvas I have ever worked on!" designer Tamara Elmallah said. "The egg was beautifully made, and its finish was fantastic for me to work into with my pens. But I found that I had to adjust my position frequently, often resting my egg on its back and sides in order to ensure I was covering every area. It certainly required me to be hands-on."
Seeing the eggs together in the Plaza is quite the sight; they will all be auctioned off (bid now!), with proceeds going to children's arts organization Studio in a School and the conservation nonprofit Elephant Family. As Mary Mattingly, a mixed-media artist whose egg (pictured above) has been sitting in Rockefeller Center all month, said, "I felt very fortunate to have had such a fantastic location as Rockefeller Center. I went a few times and just sat and watched many people come up and pose next to my egg and take so many pictures!"
